Scapegoat (SetoSolace)
by hghrules
Summary: *sequel to Addict* Seto is dying. He's accepted it, but Jenny, Payten, Danielle, and Brice have not. They're prepared to go through anything - Dark magic crashes, gender dysphoria, and the beginning of a brand new Dark Mage army included - in order to save their beloved sorcerer. Notch help them.
1. Description

Seto is dying.

He's accepted it, but Jenny, Payten, Danielle, and Brice have not. They're prepared to go through anything - Dark magic crashes, gender dysphoria, and the beginning of a brand new Dark Mage army included - in order to save their beloved sorcerer.

Notch help them.

* * *

ALL RIGHT BUCKLE UR SEAT BELTS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

BECAUSE *veggie tale voice* HAVE I GOT A SHOOOOW FOR YOU!

WELCOME TO THE SEQUEL TO ADDICT - _SCAPEGOAT._

 _PLEASE RE-READ "CHAPTER EIGHT: TEMPERAMENTAL" OF ADDICT BEFORE READING THIS. I'VE MADE CHANGES TO THAT CHAPTER WHICH ARE CRUCIAL TO THE PLOT OF THIS BOOK._

YAY :)

NOW, FAIR WARNING: THIS BOOK WILL BE TOLD FROM **JENNY'S POV.** THE CHARACTERS GOING ON THE MAIN JOURNEY AND THEREFORE PARTICIPATING MOST IN THE STORYLINE ARE **JENNY, PAYTEN, DANIELLE, BRICE, AND SETO. EARLIER I SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE MUCH SETOSOLACE OR BRICE OR SETO IN THIS BOOK BUT GUESS WHAT NERDS. _I FRICKIN LIED._**

LETS MEET THE CHARACTERS!

IVE BEEN SO BORED LATELY. AND THEN I GOT HTIS IDEAD AND ALSKDJF LSKDJF IMA CATCH UP TO NANORWRIMO HOPEFLLY XD ANYWAYS SO I WAS BORED. AND I FOUND AN ANIMMMMU SITE THAT I USED TO USE TO MAKE CHARACTER SHEETS FOR FEEL.

 **SO YOU CAN HEAD OVER TO HTE WATTPAD BOOK IF U WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES OF EACH CHARACTER!**

NOW! WARNINGS IN ADVANCE. **I WILL ALSO PLACE APPROPRIATE WARNINGS AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER.**

 **WARNING: GENDER DYSPHORIA!** (why did that try to autocorrect to dysphagia what is dysphagia [EDIT: I GOOGLED IT ITS DISCOMFORT WHILE SWALLOWING])

 **WARNING: PROBABLY BLOOD AND GORE!**

 **WARNING: ADDICTION, HIGHS, CRASHES** (sort of like a withdrawal sort of?)

OKay I _think_ that's it! I'll add more if more appear.

Noooooow. How about that first chapter? fIrSt iMpResSionS PeOpLE!

YOU KNOW THE DRILL. EN-JUH-HOY, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS!

BAI!


	2. One: Your City

**Scapegoat**

 **One: Your City**

"Seto!"

The cry sends me running towards the park in the center of Our City. That was Brice's voice, and, if the past is anything to go by, he's likely gotten himself in a whole lot of unnecessary trouble. I know Seto will be next to Brice in practically no time at all (that man is utterly whipped, and when he's not focusing on being a doting boyfriend, he doubles as a savage guard dog), but I still want to make sure he's okay.

"W-Wait up!" shout a couple of squeaky voices from behind me, and soon Louis and Danielle are running by my side.

We skid around a corner and speed into the park, and I let out a breath as my eyes focus in on Brice, who is perfectly unharmed.

"Seto," he whimpers, and the alarm bells reinstate themselves.

I get down on my knees beside Brice, who is kneeling next to a collapsed Seto. "What happened?" I ask, frantically checking his neck and wrist for a pulse.

"I don't know!" Brice replies, looking toward me with wide, terrified eyes. "He just kind of… fell over? And then he kind of curled in on himself, and- I don't know!"

"Bloody tea crumpets," Danielle whispers, dropping down next to us. "What happened?"

Brice looks like he's about to explode, so I just shake my head. "We don't know." I look down to find myself chewing on my nails again. Notch dang it. "What can we do to help him?"

"I've tried at least three healing spells," Brice mutters, which is saying something since Brice is the second-best sorcerer in Our City at this point.

"Good holy ghast," breathes a blonde teenager whom I know very well. Payten narrows their eyes at Seto as they lower themselves to the ground. "It almost looks like a really, really bad crash."

"Oh no," Brice says, almost inaudibly. "Oh, no, it does."

"We'll get Michael!" Danielle says shakily, and she and Louis jump to their feet and run off.

"'M fine," Seto groans, and Brice breathes a sigh of relief because at least he can talk.

"No, you're not!" Payten gapes, buying none of his bullcrap. "Dude, you're curled up in a ball on the ground, hardly able to move."

"Can still move," Seto argues, crying out in pain when he tries to uncurl. "S-Sort of."

"Oh, Jeb," Brice groans, reaching out to hold Seto but then pulling back for fear of hurting him. "Seto, please, what's wrong?"

"Don't know," he moans. "Definitely feels like a 'really, really bad crash,' but with all of the effects focused on the physical side of things." He coughs out his last few words and curls in on himself even more. "Sucks."

"More than Brice does on Valentine's Day?" Payten asks, furrowing their eyebrows in concern.

"M-Maybe not that much," Seto laughs, but it obviously causes him pain.

Michael pops into existence next to us, and his eyes immediately lock onto Brice. "Why is your face so red?" he asks. Then his eyes flit lower. "Oh, Notch. Seto."

"We told you!" Danielle screeches as she and Louis round the corner into the park.

"Yeah," Michael breathes, "you did. What happ-"

"Don't. Ask," I growl. "We don't know."

"Have you been casting Dark magic?" Michael asks, dropping to his knees like the rest of us to be closer to Seto.

"Not since four years ago, before you even got here," Seto groans.

"Oh, really."

Something tells me Seto would be glaring if he could. "Yes. Absolutely."

"… Seto." Michael sighs. "You can't crash without casting first."

"Then perhaps it is not a crash," Seto replies, pronunciating each word a little too sharply.

"Then what is it?" Michael argues, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"I- I-" Seto coughs and then sighs, defeated. "I don't know."

Michael sighs again, eying Seto with obvious disapproval and almost disgust. "You'll just have to ride out the crash. Friendly reminder that you wouldn't have to crash if you'd stop casting."

"I didn't- I did not- I haven't cast since-"

"Save your strength," Michael mutters as he stands. He shoots some undecipherable look at Brice, and then he sighs one last time and walks away.

"Seto," Brice says quietly, and Seto groans in pain.

"Didn't," Seto tries.

Brice throws up his hands, glancing at Seto's pitiful form. "Kinda did."

"Screw you, as well," Seto mumbles as Brice shakes his head and walks away.

"You cast Dark magic?" Louis asks, wide-eyed as he lies on his side to look into Seto's eyes.

"No, Seto would never," Danielle replies immediately, as though this is a fact.

"Thank you," Seto breathes, sounding utterly relieved despite the pain he's surely still in. "D-Do me a favor and tell that to Brice."

"I mean, to be fair, you used to be a hardcore addict," I say hesitantly.

"Yeah, but now he's got us," Payten points out, gently helping Seto up into a sitting position. "And I know it would be his worst nightmare if any of us ever got caught up in Dark magic, so there's no way he would let himself set that kind of example."

"Point," I sigh, sitting back on the heels of my feet.

"Thank you," Seto repeats. He forces a laugh. "I'm twenty-nine, I shouldn't be hobbling about like this," he says as Payten and I slowly, slowly, help him to his feet.

"You really don't know what happened?" Danielle asks. Seto hesitates, and my little sister puts her hands on her hips. "Penny for your alibi."

Seto huffs, managing to stand on his own as he crosses his arms and looks down at Danielle with a matching expression. "Children these days - interrogation naturals from the moment they're born." Danielle's steely glare doesn't let up, and Seto rolls his eyes. "Calm down, dear. I wasn't lying when I said I didn't cast. However, with how similar this incident was to a crash…"

Seto has always been a fantastic liar. I've watched him deadpan his way through foreign city councils, disappointed parent meet-ups, and even anniversary plans for Brice. The guy's a natural, and I wouldn't play poker with him if my life depended on it. But… Danielle.

He never could lie to Danielle.

"Fine, you've caught me, I have been casting," he says.

And there's the lie.

"Payten, secret place," I say sharply, and Payten nods their head and closes their eyes for a moment.

Before Seto can react at all, he's trapped with me and Payten in our "secret hideout." Seto raises an eyebrow and glances around. "This is where you two go when you say 'secret place?'" he asks.

It's Brice's bedroom.

"It's not like anyone ever comes in here," Payten snorts. "We all know Brice sleeps with you."

"Privacy?" Seto asks, slowly lowering himself down onto Brice's bed. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Yeah, yeah," Payten replies, rolling their eyes. "Now, let's be real."

"Why'd you crash?" I ask.

"Ah. Right to the point, I see." Seto breathes in slowly. "You'd like the truth?"

"Obviously," Payten says.

"I believe I may be dying," Seto says bluntly.

Payten and I exchange perfectly blank glances.

Finally, they break the silence. "This is… Unfortunate."

"Yes, mildly," Seto agrees.

"Yes, majorly!" I practically shout. "How!? Why!?"

Somehow, Seto manages to keep his calm and composed manner. "Do you recall the scene from Brice's and my stories in which some thirty or so Dark Mages used me as a scapegoat for their crashes?"

My eyes go wide as the realization hits. "And every crash takes time off the end of your life…"

"But, like you said- you're only twenty-nine!" Payten exclaims, eyes wide with fear. "You can't possibly have lost that much time, right?"

"I fear it is entirely possible," Seto says, and his tone is sickeningly apologetic. He shouldn't be apologizing for this. It shouldn't even be happening in the first place. "My own crashes must have taken downwards of five years up until my last one, which may have taken Notch knows how many. And thirty mages - twenty-nine, to be precise - all dumping crashes which would take, perhaps, one or two years each…"

"No. No, no, no, no, no- Oh my Notch, Seto, what about Brice?" I babble, twirling the end of my ponytail around my fingers nervously. "He'll be heartbroken!"

"He'll be angry," Seto corrects me. "Had I been thinking clearly earlier, I would have embraced the idea that my crash-like incident was, indeed, the result of Dark magic casting. I will just have to embrace it all the more from now on."

"Do you want him to hate you!?" I ask angrily.

"Yeah," Payten says slowly, sadly, as though they've just realized Seto's intentions. "He does."

"It will be far easier this way," Seto tries to convince us, putting his hands out placatingly. "I am infinitely regretful that you two no longer have the chance to be deceived as such."

"He'll hate you even more once you're gone," Payten warns him.

"So be it," Seto replies calmly, but his lying prowess fails him, and his smile turns sad before he can stop it.

"You should tell him," I say, almost begging now.

"I am convinced that this is the best action I can take in a situation such as this," he says firmly. "I want Your City to stay strong."

"Our City!" I correct him, close to tears.

He simply hums, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and a tear finally slips from my eye. Inevitably, he notices, and his confidence wavers. "Jenny, dear," he whispers, glancing from me to Payten, who is at least keeping themselves together a little bit better. "Payten. I am… truly sorry. But everything will be okay, I promise. I have already shifted half command of Your City's magical properties over to Brice, and the other half will follow once I pass. Given my cause of death and my history as a Dark mage, I'm likely to leave a burst of densely-packed Dark magic orbs in my wake. Due to the fact that these orbs have been known to draw people towards Dark magic and possibly even form addictions, I will be leaving for an isolated plot of land in approximately ten days. No one is to follow me. It is crucial that no one be stationed within a mile of me during my departure. I would not wish the burden of Dark magic on anyone, for any reason," Seto finishes, and his eyes are set, his eyebrows almost angry-looking with how serious he is, his mouth clamped shut, suddenly, having said everything that needed saying.

"Seto, please," I say quietly.

The door to Brice's bedroom swings open to reveal Brice himself. He's pressing against the door with his hip while in his arms lay a couple of pillows and a blanket. He freezes when he sees us, jaw dropping half-way to the floor in surprise. "Uh… Hi?" he begins. Then he sees Seto. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi," Seto chokes out, jumping to his feet. After hearing himself, he clears his throat and stands up a little straighter. "Hello."

"I, um." Brice glances down at the pillows and blanket in his hands and promptly drops them. "I was just- I thought I'd maybe sleep in here tonight, because- well, just so I don't get addicted again, because- I'm just taking precautions! I know you'll get past this," Brice rambles.

I watch as Seto signs a color-changing Light magic spell behind his back before pretending to cast Dark magic. "Perhaps," he says simply as his artificially dark purple magic carries Brice's pillows to his bed.

Brice gapes at him. "I- D-Don't do that!" he demands weakly, watching the wisps of dark light left behind. "You'll never get past it if you use it for stupid things like that!"

"Hmm," Seto hums, making a comb materialize in his hand in a burst of dark purple magic. He absent-mindedly begins combing through his hair, which is ridiculous because I'm pretty sure Seto hasn't brushed his hair in at least a decade.

"Seto-!" Brice says brokenly. Seto hums again, looking up at him as though to say "Yes?" as he continues to brush his messy brown hair. "… Whatever. Do what you want, I guess. It doesn't matter to me," Brice mumbles, picking up his blanket and trudging out of his own room. The door falls shut in his absence.

"Been putting out hints of Dark magic for a while," Seto explains, his voice barely a whisper. "Suppose it's all coming together for him, now."

"Seto," I say gently.

"Are you… okay?" Payten asks, stepping forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. He's painfully short when pitted up against the 5'10" giant that is Payten, and perhaps that isn't doing a whole lot to comfort him.

"Splendid!" he replies anyways, and I almost accidentally believe him.

The door suddenly flies open again and Brice reappears, panting from running up the stairs, I'd assume. "Seto, it happened again," he breathes with fear in his eyes, and, perhaps almost instinctively, Seto takes one smooth step forward and presses up against him, offering all the comfort he can.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out," Seto assures him, but now that I know he's only got ten days left, I'm honestly not so sure.

"Who was it?" Payten asks, glancing over at me as though worried about my reaction, and I tilt my head in confusion before realizing: I don't have a clue where Louis and Danielle are. I suck in a panicked breath, and Payten grabs my hand and squeezes tightly.

"Lizza," Brice replies, and, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm relieved.

"Where was she last seen?" Seto asks as he pulls Brice out the door and down the stairs, and Payten and I struggle to keep up.

"The north end of Our City."

"Nearest the Burg?"

"Yeah."

Seto has always seemed to move faster than anyone else in this city, even without any spells, and Brice is stumbling terribly as he tries to keep up. "Excuse me, friends!" Seto calls out with that authority that just seems to come naturally to him, and the crowd hindering our progress parts like the Red Sea.

"Seto!" shouts Lizza's mother, who is practically drowning in her own tears. "Thank Jeb you're here. Please, please tell me you can find my little girl!"

"I'll find her if it's the last thing I do," Seto says with steely determination, and it pains me to know that his words might be true.

"What can we do?" asks Louis, who was working with Danielle to comfort the crying mother.

"I don't know. But three missing children is three too many, and I will not stand to lose a fourth," Seto growls. "I'm heading out. Give me ten minutes to gather supplies, and I'll be gone." He turns to face Lizza's mother. "Your daughter will return home shortly. Do not cry for her."

"Seto, no," Payten says firmly, letting go of my hand to slap his arm. Gutsy, but effective. "No way."

Seto gives her the 'don't you dare say it' grin as he grits his teeth and mutters, "It will be fine. I am confident in my own abilities. Lizza will return, safe and sound."

Payten frowns, and I look Seto directly in the eyes. "Will you?" I ask quietly.

His eyes drop to the ground.

"I'll go," Payten offers. They chance a look at me, and I nod. "Me and Jenny both. We'll find Lizza and the others, and we'll bring them home."

Seto's eyes go wide, and half the crowd gives us judgmental looks. "Jenny doesn't even cast!"

"I'll go with them!" Danielle shouts, jumping up between me and Seto. "So they'll have another mage in their party!"

"Oh, most certainly not," Seto scoffs. "I will go alone."

"You won't go at all," Brice butts in. "You need to stay here, where you can have… supervision."

"Brice," Seto deadpans, looking utterly unamused as he stares at the poor man.

Usually, Brice would waver under any sort of stare from Seto, but right now he seems determined to stay strong. "You're not going," Brice says firmly.

"So it's settled, then?" I ask. "Me, Brice, Payten, and…" As painful as it is to let her come along, I've long since learned to trust in my little sister's ability to defend herself. "And Danielle?"

"Settled," Brice confirms, nodding sharply, and Seto gapes at us all.

"You're kidding, right?" he asks.

"Nope," Payten replies, grinning and popping the 'p.'

And that's the story of how me, Payten, Brice, and Danielle began our first suicide mission.

Notch help us.


	3. Two: Part of a Healthy Diet

_dude ok so i did this for nanowrimo right? now lets just put it out there that i failed first of all, te book just isnt going to be that long xD but i did practically finish teh thing, im just connecting loose ends and editing. soooo you've got like approx. 28k words to look forward to hopefully? yayyyy!_

 _aaaanyways, my be-ay-yoo-tiful rulers, have a lovely lovely day and i hope you en-juh-hoy this chapter! ^.^_

 **Scapegoat**

 **Two: Part of a Healthy Diet**

We walk out of Our City with heads held high and confidence held higher.

… For approximately ten feet.

"Where do we even look?" Danielle says, asking the question that's been on all of our minds.

"I don't know," I admit. "I guess we'll just… wander?"

While Brice and Danielle toss around ideas, Payten and I fall back a little. They lean in to whisper in my ear, and their curly blond bangs tickle my face. "We should try to find Miss May," Payten suggests. "She was the only one in Seto's stories who knew a lot about the scapegoats and could potentially be willing to help us."

"Point," I respond, nodding in agreement. "But where do we look?"

"The National Dark Magic Rehab Institution, I'd say."

"Would she really be there for six years, though?" I ask, wincing slightly. "I mean, she wasn't even addicted when Seto sent her there."

"Dang," Payten whispers, looking down as they try to think of ideas.

"I guess we could just work on finding the kids first. Maybe we'll figure something out along the way," I shrug.

"Seto doesn't have as much time as the kids do," Payten says sharply, and I purse my lips because they're horrifyingly right.

"We're going to the Burg," Danielle calls up from the front. "Brice and I think it's our best bet, unless you two _lovebirds_ have any suggestions," she says, making exaggerated kissy faces, and I blush while Payten rolls their eyes. Three years ago, I thought that maybe they liked me back, but when I went to ask them out, it all fell apart. I stumbled terribly through my words, ending up stupidly asking them if they'd teach me how to play video games. You can imagine the confusion when I knew the purpose of each and every button on the controller.

Then we got pizza, and that was the most awkward thing ever because I've always been self-conscious about eating in front of people and so I hardly ate anything at all. I think Payten was weirded out by the way I just kind of… watched them throughout the entire meal.

Finally, it came time for me to leave, and, in a fit of desperation, I locked myself in Payten's bathroom and claimed that I was stuck, clinging to the hope that Brice's stupid advice would have some sort of truth to it.

Notch, was that embarrassing. As it turned out, the lock on the bathroom door was broken - it _couldn't_ lock. When Payten effortlessly opened the door, I was met with a glance of their amused face and then a first seat view of their sock-covered feet when I fell over and hit the ground. Payten just laughed and held out a hand to help me up, and then they said something about how they'd been meaning to fix the lock anyways. They used their magic to summon a new lock, right then and there, and I was just… in awe. Of them, of their magic, of everything that they were - and I realized, in that moment, that it would be literally _impossible_ for them to like me like I liked them. They were so perfect, so accepting and so willing to look past my embarrassing failures and just help me up anyways. They were terrifyingly pretty, with three piercings in their left ear and one side of their curly blond head shaved like that balanced out two sides of themselves - and, in a way, it did. They were one of the top visual casters in Seto's class - they still are! And I was - _am -_ nothing but a normal human. They could get someone a lot better than _me._

I never tried to ask for a second date after that - I don't think Payten even considered it a date to begin with. But here I am, three years later, still so hopelessly infatuated - no, so hopelessly _in love -_ and I'm still not anything worth wanting.

We stayed friends, of course - pretty close friends, too, despite the fact that I couldn't be alone in a room with them for more than thirty seconds without freaking out. Sometimes we would babysit Danielle or Louis - which wasn't necessary, by the way, because literally everyone in Our City treats each other as family, and the kids played outside anyways - and sometimes we would both get invited to hang out with other people in Our City, which of course brought us closer. Eventually, I could finally bear to stay in a room alone with them, and so we started hanging out on our own - but always as friends. Soon, always as _best_ friends.

I love our friendship, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. But it would be oh so lovely if I could just… hold them. _Be_ held by them. The relationship stuff that you don't quite get with a friendship.

But here we are.

"Jenny, babe..?" Payten asks softly.

"Oh!" I almost yell, snapping out of my reverie. "Sorry. Yeah, the Burg sounds good!"

"Fantastic, because we've been walking in that direction for at least five minutes," Payten snorts.

"O-Oh! Aha, good, yeah!" I stammer, and Payten just rolls their eyes and drags me forward.

Thank the devs, it doesn't take long. Brice casts swiftness spells on us all and the Burg is in sight within an hour.

But, per typical Brice behavior, we get distracted not far from our destination. We end up peeking around the corner of a plain building made completely of black-painted bricks. It's oddly small, maybe three by three meters, but we've watched at least fifteen Dark Mages pile in there and they're still coming.

"Should we check this out?" I ask.

"Um, _yeah,"_ Danielle laughs. "There's _clearly_ something going on here."

"Yeah, but, like-"

"It's _tiny,"_ Brice whispers.

"Exactly."

Payten squints and brushes their curly hair out of their eyes. "One of them isn't wearing the same outfit as the others."

"I think she's a guard," I offer, pulling Payten back around the corner when the guard looks our way.

"Well, if we wanna get past her, we need to look like everyone else going in," Payten says.

Brice signs the word "copy," and black robes similar to the ones the entering Dark Mages are wearing snap on over our clothes

"Fantastic," Payten says, grinning widely. "We'll have to be careful about you, though. They might recognize you if they see your face."

" _Me?"_ Brice asks, pointing at himself as his eyes widen in confusion.

"You've become pretty well-known as Seto's partner in crime," I laugh.

"The super queers with zero fears," Danielle recites.

"What the heck," Brice whispers unbelievingly.

"So we'll walk up there together," Payten instructs. "Brice, you're gonna need to keep your hood over your head, babe."

"And make your hair… _not_ defy gravity," I suggest. Brice bites his lip like maybe he doesn't actually know how to do that. Sigh.

"I'll walk in front and distract the guard so you three can walk on through without a lot of interrogation. Plan?"

"Plan," I agree, and Brice and Danielle nod in agreement.

"All right," Payten breathes, standing up a little straighter. "It's go time."

"Why, hello, pretty lady!" sing-songs the Dark Mage guarding the building as we approach it. At first, I'm not sure whether to yell at her 'cause she's hitting on my sister or blush because she's hitting on _me._ But then the lady rakes her eyes down Payten's body, and I stiffen and pretend not to see red.

"I'm agender," Payten deadpans, and the guard raises her eyebrows.

"Ooh, my kin!" the guard laughs, throwing her head back. "I'm genderfluid," she explains, and then whispers afterward just to Payten, "It's a girl day."

Payten's whole mood flips. "Nice to meet you," they say with a scarily genuine grin. "I haven't met any nonbinary people in a while."

"Oh, I _feel_ you," the guard groans, looking like she actually wants to feel them. "I have not seen another one of us in _ages._ All I ever hear from the other guards is, 'But do you have a penis?'"

"Holy heck, I _know,_ right?" Payten laughs with wide eyes. "That's like the first five conversations I have with everyone I meet, and even then they hardly ever get my pronouns right."

"I know, I know," the guard says, nodding empathetically. "What _are_ your pronouns?"

"They/them," Payten answers and doesn't flinch when the guard takes a step closer, too close.

"Well, your friend here's a real cool person, huh?" the guard says to the rest of us, smiling widely. "I really like them."

"Got 'em right first try, babe," Payten says jovially.

"Know who else has never called them by the wrong pronouns?" I grumble to Brice. _"Me."_

He just snorts, and those two continue their conversation while I continue to tug a little too hard on the end of my ponytail. "So. I know it can be hard to hit up a relationship with the whole nonbinary thing, most people aren't into that, but…" The guard smiles and bites her lip. "You like anyone at the moment?"

Quickly, Brice and Danielle urge me inside. Payten's doing their job, I guess, becoming the perfect distraction so the guard won't recognize Brice. But, _oh,_ how I wish they would just step _back_ a little.

"Chill out," Brice huffs out in laughter as we stroll right through the doors. "You'll have them back in a few minutes."

" _Jealous!"_ Danielle sings, and I roll my eyes and cross my arms defensively.

"I'm not jealous," I huff, walking right past the two of them as I go to advance the entry room. The walls are lined with wooden panels, and the only door seems to be locked. Where would it even _go?_ "Uh..?"

Payten's laughter carries through into the room as they and the guard stroll through the door. "Sorry to keep you all waiting," the guard explains, smiling happily. "I have to unlock the door for you."

"Oh, it's no problem," Danielle assures her, nudging me harshly as a threat to stay good.

The guard jiggles her key in the door before holding it open for us, revealing a staircase leading down deep into the ground. I gladly step through, happy to leave her behind. But before we can all head through, she stops Payten. "Hey, call me sometime after the meeting, yeah?" she asks, taking a pen out of her pocket. "Hold out your hand."

"Payten is single and happy about it," I say rather passive-aggressively, latching onto Payten's arm. "And we have to go now."

The guard smiles knowingly. "She the one?" she asks, looking at Payten for a response. Payten sighs, and the guard winks at them. I bristle and try to drag Payten away, but they're surprisingly strong. "Hey, maybe we'll meet again!" the guard calls after us, laughing as she turns back to continue her guard duty. Payten calls out a goodbye as they finally allow me to tug them away, and I silently grind my teeth together.

Payten doesn't comment on my fierce silence nor my even fiercer grip on their arm as we enter what seems to be the main room. Brice, however, is clearly right on the verge of letting out a terrible laugh. I huff and slam my free hand over his mouth before he can draw attention to us, and then I lead us to some chairs in the back of the room, the last few empty ones out of what looks like about thirty. It's eerily, almost _stereotypically_ dark in here, and nearly everyone in the room is cloaked with the same ridiculous dark robes as we are.

"Definitely the right place," Danielle whispers.

"Hush," I whisper back as a woman takes the stage.

"Welcome!" the woman booms authoritatively, and her heels click against the floor. "I trust that you all know why we've gathered here today."

There's a bit of murmuring amongst the crowd, but they all nod in agreement anyways. My group and I quickly nod in order to blend in. "Wonderful. As you also know, we have representatives from several of the major Dark Mage bases here. This is to ensure that news of our decisions will reach to Dark Mages everywhere."

"Decisions?" one of the Mages in front snorts. "We only have two choices."

The woman's eyes are dangerously bright against the deep brown of her skin, and the deal is sealed a moment later when she takes Seto's trick and magics her eyes into flashing red. The annoying audience member will talk no more.

"From now on, stupid comments will not be tolerated," the woman sneers. "We are not here to banter."

"Then what _are_ our choices?" another audience member asks timidly.

" _That_ question is exactly why we are here," the woman begins. "The current scapegoating method of crashing into another person is unreliable and risky. Common knowledge at this point is that mages can only crash into either a non-magic human or a mage with more power than the crasher. If we continue to snatch non-magic humans here and there, our cause will _quickly_ be brought to the attention of the Light Mages, or, even worse-" She grimaces. _"Their_ City."

Several mages gasp in horror while other frantically shake their heads. Danielle covers her mouth so as not to laugh.

"Yes." The woman nods solemnly. "It is entirely possible that the formerly-known-as _Dark Sorcerer_ will attack if alerted that his people are in danger."

"So? He's weak now, he only uses Light magic!" says the annoying audience member from before who just can't seem to learn his lesson.

"Shut up, Phil," sighs the lady sitting next to him.

"No, really! We could capture him, and then we could _all_ crash into him, forever!"

Suddenly, he has the entire room's attention. The mage crosses his arms smugly while everyone looks up at the woman on stage with bated breath. "Could we… do that?" a different mage asks, voice filled with awe.

The woman thinks for a moment. "Well… Experience has shown that most scapegoats are reduced to an immobile, vegetable-like state when they hit their limit of crashes. The same would likely happen to the Dark Sorcerer, eventually, were we to follow through with Phil's plan."

Brice clenches his fists.

"However, being that he is the only known sorcerer with access to all three areas of magic… He could, _potentially,_ scapegoat _forever._ We _don't know."_

Many people in the audience begin to laugh, and the many different sounds of coughing, cackling, and booming laughter form what sounds like a cacophony of evil. "Go, Phil!" shouts an audience member.

The mage named Phil, who at this point seems very pleased with himself, grins smugly. "And if he _does_ turn into a vegetable, we can just eat 'im!"

The lady next to him shamefully whispers "oh Notch" and drags her hand down her face, and the cheering audience members says, "Too far, Phil."

"Vegans," Phil huffs, crossing his arms again. I make a mental note not to get stuck in a locked room with Phil.

"Regardless," the woman sighs, doing her best not to look at the disgrace that is Phil, "we need a back up and, if nothing else, a placeholder until we can capture the Dark Sorcerer."

"We've all heard the stories," says Phil's ladyfriend, who seems much more pleasant than him. "Perhaps they could be _more_ than just stories." The woman on stage tilts her head as an indication that the lady should continue, and so she does. "There are always these stories floating around, legends that tell of some kind of non-human scapegoat."

The woman thinks for a moment. "First order of business, then. Send someone to the mines for testing."

"I still think we should aim for vegetable-boy," Phil mutters.

"We might still," the woman assures him. "Just not yet."

"I can't wait to see the little scumbag's brain turned to mush."

"Calm, Phil."

Phil spouts another uneducated huff, and I cover my sister's ears because the only acceptable word in that sentence was "Seto." While I cover Danielle's ears, she covers Brice's, since the poor guy has started shaking a little.

"Friggin' vegetable," Phil finishes, slumping in his seat, and Brice has had enough.

"Will you _shut_ your useless mouth about the vegetable thing!?" Brice shouts, jumping out of his chair, and Danielle's eyes nearly bug out as she tries to pull him back down.

"Now, now, let's all stay calm-" the onstage woman begins, but then her eyes flash as she seems to recognize Brice. "The Dark Sorcerer's companion!" she shrieks.

Payten just sighs, surprisingly calm as they get to their feet. "Time to go," they tell me, holding out a hand for me to grab.

Meanwhile, almost all of the mages have risen from their seats and prepared a few spells that will likely do nothing against Brice, as angry as he is. "Seto is _not_ a toy, he's a _person!"_ Brice rages, blocking spells and sending out a few of his own.

"He'll be nothing but a scapegoat soon," Phil snarls, which earns Phil a fireball to the face.

"Come on, Brice, we're leaving now," Payten sighs again, tapping his shoulder. He pouts very non-threateningly as he prepares another spell for the Dark Mages, but then Payten grabs his arm and pulls him up the stairs toward the door. Danielle snorts and guards us as we go, trailing along not far behind.

"I'm so fired," breathes Payten's guard friend as they drag the Dark Sorcerer's companion out of the building, and Payten sighs an apology as they walk past. Dark Mages stream out of the building after us, doing their darnedest to surround us, and it's unfortunate that I have to say they do a disappointingly good job.

Danielle sticks out her tongue. Payten pushes over a frail elderly mage.

And we run.


	4. Three: Quite Possibly Carol

_The naming bit is dedicated to **TheTryHard8** on . Perhaps this group's name isn't as cool/amusing as Seto and Brice's, but I hope it will do the job. If any of you have any suggestions for a better name, write it in the comments! Maybe the four will change their mind._

 ** _ALSO_ EARLIER I SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE MUCH SETOSOLACE OR BRICE OR SETO IN THIS BOOK BUT GUESS WHAT NERDS. _I FRICKIN LIED_. JUST YOU FRICKIN WAIT.**

 **Scapegoat**

 **Three: Quite Possibly Carol**

"All right, I'll be honest," I admit. "That could have gone better."

"Brice," Payten sighs in exasperation. "What was that?"

Brice pouts and crosses his arms, and Payten sighs again.

"Come on, I need you to work with me, babe."

"… I'm sorry," Brice says quietly.

"Let me back in there! I'll punch the crumpets right out of their mouths!" Danielle shouts, jumping from foot to foot with her fists held up in front of her. "Come on, teleport us back!"

Payten snorts. "Calm down there, squirt. We got some solid information from those guys, but we can't go back."

"Too dangerous," I explain in my big sister voice, and Danielle squints at me, likely wondering whether or not it would be worth it for her to get down on her knees and beg.

"Hmph." Brice crosses his arms, rubbing them along the way, and Danielle shivers.

"If we're not fighting, we should find some blankets," Danielle sighs in defeat as she settles down on the ground.

"Pfft. 'Let's find some blankets,' she says as she sits down," I laugh at her. Danielle just pouts up at me, and I roll my eyes. "Where would we find blankets?" I ask.

"We're still pretty close to the Burg," Payten offers. "I couldn't teleport us very far."

"I-I've never been to the Burg," I say nervously. "Are we seriously gonna stroll in there just to buy blankets?"

"Oh, they don't sell blankets," Brice whispers. "They sell pain."

"Oh, please," Payten snorts, rolling their eyes.

"Really, though! I stayed there for a few days after the exile, and it was _totally_ terrifying."

"Are the people really made of fear?" Danielle asks with wide eyes.

"Uh, no," Brice says, shrugging. "They're just people."

"Fantastic," Payten says, clapping their hands together. "I think 'fellow humans' is as much of an invite as we're gonna get. Jenny and I will go buy blankets while you watch over Danielle."

"Oi, I don't need any watching over!" Danielle protests.

"Sorry. Danielle, watch over Brice."

Brice squints at Danielle as though about to pull his typical "but I'm older than you" card. "You wanna fight me, punk?" he asks after a lot of consideration.

"Maybe I do, muppet!" Danielle replies, bearing her fists.

"And that's our cue to leave!" Payten laughs, grabbing my hand and pulling me away as Brice tackles Danielle to the ground. I can just _barely_ hear his distant "Oh no, you're too strongggg!" as Payten and I speed away.

"Do you have any- oh," I realize just as we're approaching the gates to the Burg. Bad timing. "What do they even use for currency here?"

"Pain?" Payten guesses, mocking Brice's joke from earlier. "I don't know, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"That's not how the saying goes!" I squeak.

"Bite me," they say, hooking their thumbs in the pockets of their jacket as they stroll right into the Burg. I run to catch up to them, not wanting to be left behind in such a scary place, and they chuckle. "Head up, babe."

I try not to slouch as I focus a little too much on putting one foot after another on the mossy cobblestone street. The buildings on either side of us are grungy and dark, and people with dirty faces peer out at us from broken windows. I didn't know the Burg was this… in poverty. All I get from the stories is that it's _evil._ Not… this.

Payten walks up to one of the damaged buildings and rings the door bell like it's nothing, and I try not to hold my breath. The door swings open creakily but immediately, as though the building's inhabitants were waiting for us to approach, and I shudder. "Yo," Payten says, waving with two fingers held up. "There a supermarket around here or something?"

The pale young lady who answered the door sneers at us, causing Payten's eyes to widen as they step back slightly, and I can't help but hide behind Payten as the lady moves closer. "You're new here, ain'tcha?" she asks with a raspy voice.

"Don't be scarin' the neighbors!" shouts an older man as he hobbles to the door. His white shirt, surprisingly _still_ white, contrasts greatly against his dark skin, and while Payten converses with him, I'm just trying to figure out how he managed to keep his _white shirt_ so dang clean.

"They ain't neighbors!" the young lady shrieks, and I wince and fight the urge to cover my ears.

"You lookin' for a home?" the man asks after jabbing the point of his cane into the lady's foot. She howls and stumbles back into the house, and the man smiles at us.

"Just blankets, actually," Payten asks, peering past the man at the cursing lady.

"Oh, don't you mind her, she's an old grump," the man huffs, and the lady screeches something along the lines of _"You forgot my birthday!"_ The man taps his cane against the ground a few times as he thinks. "Blankets. Blankets! Carol, we got any blankets?"

"Oh, no, sir, we aren't meaning to take anything from you, we just want to know where we can buy," Payten clarifies, putting their hands up in a placating motion.

"Nonsense!" the man insists, shaking his head so fast that his cheeks wobble. "We could use some good karma in this ol' house, anyways."

" _Well if you wouldn't forget my birthday, old man-!"_

"She's crazy," the man whispers to me. "Carol, do we _have_ any _blankets!?"_

"Carol died last year, you sack of dust!"

"Did she?" The man purses his lips. "What a shame, she was such a nice young gal. Weren't she a nice young gal, Carol?"

"For the love of Notch," the young lady sobs.

"Well, anyways," the man says, waving it off as the lady punches a worn-down couch behind him. "There's always enough to share."

"No there _ain't!"_ the lady screams.

"What was that, Carol?" he asks, adjusting what looks like a hearing aid.

She screams again, this time into a dirty throw pillow.

"You ain't havin' none of our stuff," Not-Carol says in a low voice, jabbing a finger against Payten's chest as she pushes the old man aside. "Come on, gramps, it's time for bed."

"Is it?" He chuckles. "Time sure does fly when you're meetin' new people! What did you two want, again?"

The lady screams one more time and slams the door in Payten's face, and their green eyes sparkle with something like amusement. "Well, that was a bust."

"What now?" I ask hopelessly, admittedly a little stunned by our previous encounter.

"We try and try again, babe."

"Now, maybe you oughta try the bar!" shouts a familiar voice, and we look up to see the old man leaning out of a window. "They sell all kinds-a things in that hellhole!"

"Thank you, sir!" Payten shouts up at him.

"Oh, that's no trouble, Carol! Have a good night!"

"And you as well!"

"Yes," I breathe, letting my eyes fall closed as I lean against Payten.

"What did I tell you?" they ask with a particularly crap-eating grin.

I huff and try not to smile as the two of us wander deeper into the Burg, searching for what we now know only as "the bar." Fortunately for us, the bar seems to be the only thing in this part of the Burg with any light pouring out of it, so it's pretty easy to locate. "Head high," Payten reminds me again as they push open the double doors of the bar.

If it's trashy, I can't tell, because the lights are as dim as they can be and the place is packed with so many people that I can't even see the floor. "Where do we start?" I whisper desperately, scared to find my voice lost in the sea of shouts and loud music.

"Sorry, what!?" Payten yells, cupping a hand around their ear, and I groan. "I'm kidding, babe, I read your lips," they laugh, grasping my hand tightly in theirs before striding across the crowded room. Payten elbows past people with ease while I'm stuck rambling out petty apologies every time someone almost shoves me to the ground. Once we make it to the bar, Payten pulls me onto one of the barstools and cups both hands around my ear before whispering right into it. "If you lose me, just meet me out front. I'll be there if you will."

"Okay," I breathe despite the fact that they can't hear me, and I don't manage to catch my breath until they're settled onto their own barstool moments later.

"What can I get for you lovely ladies," purrs the waiter as he slides a few empty glasses towards us.

"Not a lady," Payten says in an offhand way, wanting to get ahead to their actual question.

"Oh! All right, gotcha," the guy nods. "My b."

"No, it's fine," Payten says, shaking their head. "Look, do you know if anyone here would be selling blankets?"

"Blankets?" the waiter asks, raising his eyebrows. "Stuff like that's in short supply 'round this time of the year."

"Anyone at all?" Payten asks.

The waiter is quiet for a moment. "I'll tell you what," he finally begins, leaning in against the counter. "I really, truly don't think you'll be finding any blankets here. But I _do_ know someone you and your friends can stay with, just for the night."

"Bless," I whisper.

"There's this nice old man just down the road from here, he lives with one of his granddaughters," the waiter says, and Payten is clearly trying to hold back a laugh as I bury my face in their shirt. "Real nice but he can be real weird, too. If you're desperate, I'm sure you can get over it."

"Thanks," Payten chuckles. "I guess we'll consider it."

"Word for the wise: Don't make Suzy mad," the waiter says seriously.

"So her name _isn't_ Carol," I confirm, accepting my fate.

"Ah," the man says knowingly. "You've met her already. Have fun." He takes the empty glasses back and goes to serve another customer, and Payten glances over at me.

"Well," they say, "you heard him. We _are_ a little bit desperate."

"Grass isn't that bad of a bed, I hear."

"Hey, I know a bit about not having a home," Payten tells me. "I guarantee you'll like Carol better than the ground, especially with how cold it's been getting lately."

I sigh and cross my arms. "Curse you and your infinite wisdom."

"Bow a little lower, I couldn't quite hear your praise," Payten snorts as they hop off of their stool and start toward the door. I jump up and grab their hand before they can get too far, and then we're off-

"Hey," says a guy about my age as he slams his hands against the wall on either side of me. "You come here often?"

"Ew," I accidentally say out loud. I'm pretty sure Danielle would be laughing if she were here.

"Aw, don't be like that," the guy laughs. He's wearing flannel, which is an instant turn-off because only Winchesters can wear flannel, so I can't exactly say I'm into him. Plus, there's Payten, so… The guy's tan skin crinkles slightly as he laughs, and I snort. He'd probably be attractive in anyone else's eyes.

Not mine.

"Sorry," I laugh awkwardly, ducking out of his cage of arms.

"Hey, it's fine, I gotcha," the man says, almost immediately turning to face Payten. That ended better than I thought it would. "How 'bout you, girl?" Okay, maybe not.

"I'm agender," Payten says, their eyes narrowed threateningly.

"That's hot." The guy smirks.

It is not so much a conscious decision as it is a furious reflex when I rear back my fist and then swing it forward to punch Mr. A-hole in the jaw. Oh, curse tall people, I was aiming for the nose.

Regardless of my aim, the force of my punch actually hurts my hand because I am not exactly used to assaulting people. I wince and shake it out slightly as I take a step back. "Uh. Sorry."

"Did you just _punch_ me?" the guy shouts with barely restrained fury as he cups his jaw, and I take another cautious step back.

"Uh…"

"I'm gonna teach you why you don't hit men," the dude snarls, and I can almost _hear_ Brice's sexism radar going off. He's probably feeling a sudden urge to rant about feminism right about now.

The guy rolls up his sleeves, and my eyes are squeezed shut and I'm thinking maybe this situation can't _get_ any worse. I throw my hands up in front of my face like a fragile shield, but when I hear the crunch of a hit, I don't feel any pain attached. My eyes flutter open, slowly, cautiously, and the first thing I see is Payten towering over the guy as he cowers beneath them.

"Too bad fancy one-liners are Seto's thing," Payten mumbles as they turn to talk to me, shaking their fist out. "Don't worry, Jen. It's fine."

"Bless you," I laugh, and Payten smiles and grabs my hand, tugging me toward the exit before the guy can get his bearings.

"I'll send a message to Brice so he and Danielle can start walking towards the gates," Payten says as we walk down the cobble street. "Meanwhile, we can ask that old guy about staying the night."

"Cross your fingers," I breathe as Payten rings the doorbell once more.

"Hi again," Payten says, doing that two-finger wave just like last time.

"Carol!" the old man greets us.

"Sure." Payten shrugs. "Listen, I know this is a lot to ask, but could some friends and I stay the night here?"

"Oh, you are _always_ welcome, sweetheart. How many friends you got?"

"Three and me."

* * *

The four of us are settled on the second floor of the small building where Not-Carol and the old man live. Not-Carol is probably going to try to kill us in our sleep, but at least we _have_ somewhere to sleep. Payten was right - by the time Brice and Danielle got here, it was absolutely _freezing_ outside. I do _not_ want Danielle getting hypothermia or something.

And the second floor isn't so bad, I guess. There isn't much furniture up here, or downstairs for that matter; the whole place is pretty bare. But they've got a stockpile of about four blankets, and two of them have been given to us for the night. Brice and Danielle are sharing one, because Danielle is a little bit scared of this place and needs him to calm her down, and Payten and I are sharing one, because I'm a little bit scared of this place and need someone to calm _me_ down.

"Goodnight, Carol!" the man downstairs yells, and Not-Carol screams an angry 'goodnight.'

"Goodnight, guys," Danielle says quietly.

"Goodnight," we echo.

A few seconds pass.

"Are you guys still awake?" Danielle asks, sounding small.

"What's up?" Payten asks, and I turn to look at Brice and Danielle.

"I can't sleep knowing we're nothing but nameless muppets in this cruel, cruel world," Danielle breathes.

I squint.

"…What?" Payten asks after a while.

"We need a name!" Danielle whines. "We're already a whole day into our super quest. So now we need a super _name!"_

"Can't we just stay nameless muppets?" I ask tiredly. What can I say? I'm not exactly a night owl.

"That's halfway trademarked," Payten tells me, shrugging a little.

"What about 'The Fearless Four?'" Brice pipes up. Notch in the Aether, please just let me sleep.

"What are you, five?" Danielle huffs, and Brice looks highly offended. "We can do better than that!"

"How about the BJPD?" I ask, half-asleep. "Like, like police, but with our initials."

"BJPD isn't working for me," Brice nearly chokes out. "How about _JB_ PD?"

Danielle snores. Maybe we'll tell her the decided name in the morning.

"Goodnight," Brice says softly, and Payten and I echo the word once more.

Time passes. I'm so tired.

I can't help but shiver.

"Are you still cold?" Payten whispers, scooting closer to me. I'm honestly too tired to even care. I swear I'll pass out any minute now.

"A little," I drawl. Without skipping a beat, Payten slides off their jacket and drapes it over my shoulders.

"Better?" they ask softly.

"I love you," I say, and then I fall asleep.

* * *

I'm up, oh Jeb, I'm up, I'm up! It's dark, I can't see crap, but Danielle is screaming from somewhere in the house and I can't feel Payten next to me. "What's going _on!?"_ I shout desperately, screaming when something slams me into the wall. "Danielle!" I scream as best as I can with the air knocked out of my lungs. "Brice! _Payten!"_

"Sorry to wake you," one of the Dark Mages says in monotone, and my eyes roll up into my head.


	5. Four: A Fancy One-Liner

_THIS WAS MEANT TO BE TWO CHAPTERS BUT NOW IT ISNT WHATEVER HI SETO_

 ** _WARNING: GENDER DYSPHORIA, ANXIETY ATTACK_**

 **Scapegoat**

 **Four: A Fancy One-Liner If I've Ever Seen One  
**

When I wake up, it is dark and it is cold and it is an all around not-good time.

"Danielle?" I call out, wincing when my shaky voice echoes off the concrete walls. There's no reply. "Payten?" I try again, but, again, I get no answer. "Brice?"

Nothing.

I suck in a deep breath and place my hands against the cold wall, slowly getting my bearings as my eyes begin to adjust to the dark room. As I stand up, I try to take in as much detail as I can. The floor and walls both seem to be made of concrete, and I can't make out any sort of possible light source in the room, which means whoever usually uses this room must make their own lights using magic. The room is empty save for me, and-

Oh. I'm not wearing any clothing.

Payten's jacket, my tanktop and jeans, and my underwear all seems to have disappeared, and I'm left to feel mildly uncomfortable in a random place without any light or sound.

Great.

I edge along the wall, bare feet padding silently across the floor. One of these walls has a door on it, if my petty human night vision is to be trusted - and, yes, there it is! It's got bars running up and down it, and they're spaced far enough apart that I could maybe fit my hand through them but not nearly far enough apart for me to actually slide through.

Gah. It smells like mildew.

I stick my arm through the bars and feel around on the floor for a bit, but I guess it would be a little weird if the key were actually sitting right there on the floor.

So. I'm trapped in a cell with _literally_ nothing.

I shiver, suddenly assaulted by chills, and then gasp when I realize my hair isn't covering my neck. It's still up in its ponytail, which means that I have not only my hair tie, but also the bobby pins I use to keep my bangs in check.

 _Score._ I'm fantastic.

Now, if only I knew how to pick a lock.

I take the bobby pin out of my hair, stubbornly blowing my bangs out of my eyes as I peer through the darkness at the lock on the door. It's literally not even- it's on the outside of the door. If I want to pick it, I'll have to do it completely blindly as I stretch my hand through the bars and twist to reach the lock.

Well. Here goes nothing.

Before I can so much as break my bobby pin, I hear footsteps echoing off the walls, and I suck in a quick, scared breath before pulling my hand back into my cell and pressing my body flat up against the wall next to the door. Quiet breaths. Quiet breaths. Stay calm, Jenny. You've got this. Whatever this is, you've got it.

Whoever's walking towards my cell apparently doesn't feel inclined to say a single word of warning, because they slide their keys into the door's lock almost silently. They still fail to say anything as my door creaks open, and I copy their silence as I make a single fist with both my hands, jump out from my crappy hiding spot, and then slam my combined fist over this person's head like I'm hitting a volleyball. Except really, really hard.

The man crumples, and I let out a breath of relief. _That_ was nerve-wracking. I strip him of his outer clothes as quickly as I can, slipping on pants that are too big for me and a baggy collared shirt with sleeves that fall at least three inches past the tips of my fingers. Then I wiggle the keys out of his hand and lock him in the cell before creeping off down the dark, concrete hallway.

If I were a tad less smart than I am, I'd be calling out the names of my friends, hoping one of them will respond. But that will probably just get me caught, so instead I simply resolve to listen as closely as I can to every sound that echoes down the hall. The padding of my feet is easy to block out, and I hold the keyring tightly so the keys don't jangle against each other.

Faintly, I can hear the whining of a familiar voice - but, really, I hardly recognize it, because I don't think I've ever heard them _whining_ before. Or hardcore sobbing, but Payten is definitely doing both right now.

I follow the noise as carefully as I can, keeping one hand on the wall at all times so as not to get lost. Oddly enough, Payten's hallway happens to have a single light flickering in the middle of it, so I can at least sort of see what I'm doing as I jiggle each of my keys in the lock on my friend's door.

"No, no, no," Payten cries, hugging their knees to their chest and rocking back and forth. They're naked just as I was, but right now I'm more concerned with why they're sobbing on the floor. "Not right, not right," they gasp out.

"Hey, hey, shh," I say quietly, taking a tentative step towards them. They don't even look up at me, refusing to open their eyes. "Hey, Payten, it's just me. Are you okay?"

"I'm not right, I'm not right," they moan, shaking their head frantically as they continue to rock back and forth.

"Uh, okay," I say slowly as I carefully crouch down next to them. "A-Are you hurt? Can I help?"

"I can feel them, I can see them, it's not right!" Payten sobs, slamming their head into their knees, and my eyes go wide. "I'm not right!"

"W-What-" My eyes flit down to their exposed breasts and suddenly I get it. "Okay, just hang tight, Payten, just breathe," I babble, frantically fumbling with the buttons on the guard's collared shirt. As quickly as I can, I yank each button out of its slit, and then I slide the shirt off and lean towards Payten, gently pushing their arms through each hole and then buttoning the shirt up for them. "Shh, shh, it's okay," I whisper, hugging them tightly as their rocking begins to slow. "Don't worry, I- We'll get your binder back, I promise, I'll find it before we leave this sucky place."

"I'm sorry," Payten whimpers, and I hug them more tightly.

"No, shh, don't be. I'm sorry I didn't catch on faster." I force a laugh. "You'd think I'd have a bit of a handle on these things, with helping Danielle and all."

"I'm sorry," Payten repeats, taking in a shaky breath. At least they're breathing. I wasn't sure earlier. "Thank you, Jenny."

"No problem," I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. "You good?"

"Better, at least," they breathe out, slowly backing out of the hug. "Sorry. Again. I haven't had an anxiety attack like that since…" Payten swallows hard and looks down. "Since a long time ago," they finish, and of course I'm curious but I know not to push them. "Uh, we should probably get you a top."

"Probably," I laugh, and I avoid mentioning that we need bottoms for them as well. I don't want to accidentally trigger them.

"Thanks for giving me your shirt," Payten says quietly.

I shrug and grab their hand as I pull them to their feet. "I didn't need it as much as you did."

"Yeah, well." They steady themselves but don't let go of my hand, and I can't help but blush. I'm surprised I made it this far without turning red, to be honest. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," I breathe.

Payten's eyes lock onto mine for a moment before flickering down to my lips, and my breath hitches as we both begin to lean in-

"Bloody tea crumpets!" shouts a small voice. "You cannot have your first kiss while half-naked!"

Payten and I jump away from each other, and I twirl my hair in embarrassment and cover my chest with my free hand while Payten fiddles with their earrings.

"Cover your eyes, small child," Brice whispers, putting his hand over Danielle's eyes. She stands up on her tiptoes to look over it, and Brice sighs and moves his hand to match her.

"I- We weren't-" I stammer. I can't kiss Payten, anyways - I can't even cast magic! They deserve better than me.

"First kiss? No," Payten insists. "What's a first kiss?"

"Yeah, I don't even know what a first kiss _is,"_ I babble. "Honestly. Sounds stupid."

"Sounds like chocolate history in the making," Payten says, and I don't know _how_ they keep a straight face.

Brice laughs with us while Danielle continues to stare disapprovingly, but eventually she, too, breaks down and snorts a little. "Okay, okay," Brice giggles. "Here, before we go any farther- take my shirt, Jenny, you must feel super uncomfortable." He unbuttons his shirt and practically flings it at me, and I let out an undignified huff. Brice laughs again. "Let's just- get out of here."

"Where _is_ here?" I ask as I slide my arms through the sleeves.

"No clue," Brice snorts.

Payten's breath hitches in the worst way, and their question hits me hard. "How long have we been here?"

"I don't know," Brice replies, shrugging noncommittally. "Danielle and I just broke out of our cells a few minutes ago. Who knows how long we were passed out before that."

"I need the date," I gasp out, sprinting out of Payten's cell. How can I know? It's not like weird war prisons tend to have calendars hanging on the doors of each cell! We could be too late already!

"Danielle, baby, I'm a little shaken up right now," Payten says quickly, crouching to be nearer to Danielle's height. "Can you and Brice bring up a vision of Our City?"

"Uh-huh, sure," Danielle says cautiously, bringing up her hand in preparation. "Brice?"

"Yeah," Brice agrees, furrowing his eyebrows suspiciously. He and Danielle sign a few spells, and then a fuzzy vision of Our City appears. It's the park area, and Jason and Ty are sitting on a bench, comforting Lizza's mother. They, themselves, don't seem to be any more distraught than when we left, so I guess Seto must have at least a _little_ time left. But how much?

"This isn't helping," I huff.

"I usually wear a watch," Payten says slowly. "And it has the date on it? It should be with the rest of our stuff, just as long as our captors haven't broken it."

"Right. We need to find our things anyways," I add.

"But why do we need to know what day it is?" Danielle asks as I start off down the hallway, blindly searching for a storage room or something. "You guys keep trying to speed us up, acting like we've got a time limit or something, but you won't tell us _why!"_

I bite my lip and stay silent as I peek into another room. Nothing.

"Hey, the twelve year-old's right," Brice pipes up, and Payten and I exchange a glance. "Whatever's going on, we need to know about it."

At this point, I'm just flat-out _chewing_ on my bottom lip, my strength wavering as Danielle's puppy eyes combine with Brice's 'please love me' face. Gah. "We can't tell you," Payten says firmly, and I thank every deity out there for the gift that is Payten.

Brice pouts even harder, and Danielle rubs her eyes like she's going to cry.

"It… involves Seto," I blurt, visibly wincing. Payten sighs. "But he didn't want us to tell you!"

"Great, now he's hiding even _more_ stuff from me," Brice grumbles, crossing his arms and staring stubbornly down at his feet. "Everything was going so well, but then he just started ignoring me and then he added Dark magic to the equation, and-" Brice squeezes his eyes shut. "I hate it, I hate it so much. I hate _him_ so much."

Danielle gasps as her eyes go wide, and Payten just rolls their eyes and shakes their head. "Y-You- You don't mean that," I insist, staring right at Brice, almost _pleading_ with him with my eyes.

Brice simply shrugs, avoiding eye contact, and that alone speaks volumes.

I breathe out slowly. "No matter what he says, he loves you."

Brice's eyes, burning with a sudden fury, flick sharply up to mine. "Did he say otherwise?"

"N-No!" I practically shout. "No, of course not, I swear! I was just- it was an example. That- just know. That he loves you, no matter what."

"Sure," Brice mutters, looking down again. I open my mouth to say more, but Danielle catches my eye and shakes her head.

"Guys, I think I found our stuff!" Payten shouts from up ahead, and I gladly take the excuse to run towards Payten and away from my problems. "I think it's all here," they breathe out in relief as they gently take their binder off of a shelf on the wall.

"Slip it on," I urge them, turning around to give them privacy and to shoo Brice and Danielle away for a moment. "You good?"

"Fantastic," Payten replies, beaming at me when they turn around, and I nearly melt at the sight of their smile.

"Yeah, yeah, go be grossly in love somewhere else," Danielle huffs as she pushes past me to find her things.

"Find your watch?" Brice asks in a scary monotone voice. He _never_ talks like this - he's the most expressive person I know. Simply talking isn't an option - Brice usually has to gesture wildly with his hands and raise his voice up and down incredibly and perhaps even _jump_ up and down to get his point across. This is _not_ the Brice I'm used to.

"Yeah," Payten replies coolly, ignoring his out-of-character tone. They're really good at that, at taking things in stride, and I admire them like crazy. They look down at the watch in their hands, pressing a few buttons to get to the date. "And…" Their face falls. "We've lost a day."

"Could've been worse," I point out, and Payten nods.

"We'll just have to work fast," they decide, handing me their jacket, and I grin wide enough to cure cancer.

"How are we gonna find the exit?" Danielle asks.

"Wander?" I suggest.

"We'll run into guards, for sure," Payten points out, the ever-present (and, frankly, rather discouraging) voice of reason.

"We can probably teleport," Brice sighs, clearly making an effort not to take his anger out on us. "The prison can't be _that_ big."

"Plan?" Payten asks.

"Plan," I say, shrugging.

The world wavers in front of me, and when I open my eyes, my friends and I are outside.

It's peaceful.

The green grass blows in the wind, and various broken-down buildings provide a sort of scenic rest stop.

"Wow, that was easy," Danielle says, and I purse my lips as mages pour out of the large stone building behind her.

Payten snorts in amusement before darting away from the building - presumably the prison we were just in - and away from the mages pouring out of it. Danielle, Brice, and I stumble after them as Dark Mages shout at each other and us. "They teleported! Stop them from doing it again!" one of the Dark Mages orders. Several of the mages cast a quick spell as they run after us, and Danielle humors them by signing a teleportation spell. Of course, nothing happens. They've blocked off all teleportation spells with some kind of magical barrier. Friggin' magic science. Should've taken that summer class with Danielle.

"Um, there are a _lot_ of mages back there!" I yell to Payten as I urge Danielle to go faster. Brice spins around, running backwards for a few feet as he fires some offensive spells. "What's the plan!?"

"Plan?" they ask, not even looking back over their shoulder at me.

"Yeah, _plan!"_

"Oh, I don't have one!" Payten laughs as the wind blows their curly hair back. It messes up their hair's part entirely, leaving the golden curls to flop unevenly over the shaved sides of their head.

Beautiful.

"We have to fight!" Danielle insists, glancing back over her shoulder and then running even faster to catch up to Payten. "Bloody tea crumpets, they're gaining on us!"

"Fight!?" Brice shrieks, his own gravity-defying hair flying behind him as he jumps over a bit of rubble on the ground. "There are _at least_ fifty mages back there."

" _Fifty!?"_ I screech. "We can't handle fifty, we barely handled the thirty back at that conference thing!"

"We'll hide, then!" Payten says decisively, sprinting around the corner of one of the broken down buildings. We skid around the corner after them only to be pulled around a _second_ corner almost immediately. And then there's Payten, crouching on the ground with us, pressing their back up against the remains of a stone wall still standing at half-height. They put a finger up in front of their mouth, signaling for us all to shut our mouths.

…

"Are they gone?" Danielle asks in a whisper.

"I _think_ they passed us," Payten confirms, standing up.

"Uh-" I begin.

"I found them!" one of the mages shouts, and my friends and I all dive for cover, sliding behind the closest bit of rubble as the Dark Mage who seems to be in charge of this group strolls forward.

Stupidly, I pop my head up to see his position.

Payten grabs my hand and pulls me down so that we both just barely dodge a deadly-looking wisp of magic. "Be _careful,_ Jenny," Payten huffs, rolling their eyes. "I don't wanna lose you."

"O-Oh," I squeak, nervously twirling the end of my ponytail as I look at anything but Payten's eyes. "Okay!"

Payten laughs and squeezes my hand before pulling me up and along towards Brice and Danielle.

"Everything okay there?" Brice asks.

"Perfect," I reply a little too quickly, and Danielle gives me an exaggerated wink.

 _Boom!_

A bolt of magic slams into the broken-down wall we were using as cover, and the four of us dive out behind separate covers as the Dark Mages push forward. "Come peacefully back to your cells," the one who seems to be the main Mage booms. "You will not be harmed."

"Oh, yeah? Then what the _Nether_ do you need us for?" Payten shouts angrily, reaching up over their cover to shoot out a spell before diving to another.

"We simply want to use you as bargaining chips," the Mage says, trying to sound reasonable.

"And not as scapegoats?" I huff judgmentally, eyes widening when a bolt hits the pile of rubble I was using for cover.

"Scapegoating does not hurt," the Mage assures us.

"Really? I've heard that it does," Brice says bitterly.

The Dark Mage seems to perk up a bit. "Who was that I heard? Could it have been the weakling Light Mage sidekick of the Dark Sorcerer?" He laughs happily. "We knew all four of you were from His City, but we had _no_ clue one of you was the sidekick!"

Brice swallows nervously.

"Now," the Mage says, "I want _revenge."_

"We don't want trouble," Brice calls out, his voice only wavering a little. "We just want to find Our City's kids and leave."

"Too late," the Mage laughs, and I can hear his heavy footsteps as he slowly peeks behind each bit of cover in the area, looking for us. "You and the Dark Sorcerer took out our whole army. Now that we're back, you deserve retribution."

"Please, we just want to get our friends and go," Danielle shouts. The Mage's footsteps grow closer to Danielle's place.

"Not happening, kid. Now, Brice - that's your name, right? How did _you_ get with the Dark Sorcerer, of all people? Or, really- how did _the Dark Sorcerer_ get with _you?_ Why would you want him after all he's done? You were a Light Mage, after all."

"He's Seto," Brice says quietly, shrugging slightly. Danielle breathes out a sigh of relief as the Mage walks towards Brice's voice.

"So what?" the Mage snorts. "You know, _honestly,_ if I were in your place, and I had somehow gotten the Dark Sorcerer to go soft for me? I would do exactly what you did - _take the chance._ He's the most powerful sorcerer out there; if I had him, I could do whatever I wanted!" Brice bristles slightly as he realizes the implications. "That's why you played his little game, became his boyfriend, right? Right?"

As much as Brice insists he hates Seto, he sure does look awfully angry at the idea that he never really loved him. But the Mage is close to him now, and Brice is at least smart enough not to deny it out loud.

"I guess the bigger question is, why did _he_ pick _you?"_ the Mage continues upon realizing that Brice isn't going to say anything. "After all, you're just a guy, and he's _the Dark Sorcerer._ As the story goes, you couldn't even cast a simple levitation spell when you first met him! Why would he want you?" My heart sinks as I think about me and Payten.

Before Brice can burst into tears, the Mage is suddenly cut off with an odd choking sound, and all my friends and I jump out from our cover to take advantage of his lapse in strength. But, apparently, we didn't need to.

"Believe it or not," growls the Dark Sorcerer himself, with one arm hooked around the Dark Mage's neck, "love is not based solely upon one's magical status."

Seto snaps the Mage's neck, and the Mage promptly crumples to the floor. "Apologies for my late arrival," Seto says calmly, stepping to the side and brushing his hands off on his sorcerer's robe. "It takes longer to snap necks without being seen than it does to blow up the whole place with a spell. Unfortunately," he sighs, "I had to prove a point." He crosses his arms. "I am more than my magic."

For a moment, there is nothing but stunned silence.

Danielle laughs and claps her hands. "Jolly good show!" she giggles, and Seto rolls his eyes.

"You're all unharmed, I hope?" Seto asks, glancing around at each of us. His gaze lingers for a moment on Brice, but then it flits down to the ground.

"Yeah," Brice says weakly. "Did you- Did you hear all of that?"

"The entire monologue," Seto confirms calmly, but there's obvious pain in his eyes.

If this had taken place a month or two ago, Brice would have rushed to assure his boyfriend that none of what the Mage said was true. As it is, Brice doesn't say a word.

Has silence always been this deafening?

I step out from behind my cover and approach our friend. "We're glad you're here, Seto," I say thankfully. "But how'd you know to come?"

"I, ah…" Seto laughs nervously. "I placed an enchantment on Brice that is similar to the one I placed on Your- _Our_ City. When he is in immediate danger, I am notified. I was watching your battle to determine whether or not I ought to step in."

"Wow, thanks for asking my permission to put a stalkery camera enchantment on me," Brice huffs sarcastically, crossing his arms.

"Ah, my apologies," Seto replies awkwardly, scuffing his shoe against the ground. "I didn't think you would mind."

Brice huffs one more time. "Whatever. Thanks for saving us, I guess."

"My pleasure," Seto says, forcing a laugh. "You were taking too long, anyways."

I clear my throat awkwardly. "Well," I begin. "Uh, what now?"

"That depends," Seto answers, oozing an uncomfortable, detached sort of professionalism. "How is your progress with rescuing Lizza and the other two children?"

"We were kind of imprisoned for a day," I laugh nervously, twirling my hair.

"Perfect!" Seto exclaims. What a very _Seto_ thing to do. "Ah, not that you were captured, of course. But it seems the four of you are unharmed, and, if you were imprisoned, I assume you thought to check the prison for Lizza and the others as you escaped. Or perhaps you were preparing to go back to check now..?"

Bless you, Seto. "We didn't even think about that!" I say with wide eyes. "We were so freaked out about your- uh, _thing,_ that we didn't even put the pieces together that the kids might be in there."

"We should go back!" Danielle says, bouncing between her heels and her toes. "Seto took care of all the Dark Mages anyways, so…"

"Back we go," Brice sighs.

Seto is a dear even when he's feeling hurt and detached, so he teleports us all to the prison so we don't have to walk. Next thing I know, he's strolling down the corridors of the prison like it's nothing, like he isn't afraid of every distant, echoing footstep and every haunted shout from cells further in, and maybe he isn't. I, on the other hand, definitely am. I shiver slightly and pull Payten's jacket more tightly around me, and they grin at me.

"I'm not seeing any children at all," Brice says after a while of watching me be uncomfortable. He's clearly not feeling good about this place, either. "We should go."

"No, no, we should free everyone first," Danielle insists, looking up at Seto with pleading eyes. "Don't you think so, Seto?"

"Ah…" Seto clears his throat and glances everywhere but Brice's eyes.

"Whatever," Brice sighs again, and I get the idea it's not so much the feeling of having his opinion overridden that's making him seem so weary, but, rather, the feeling of having his opinion _overlooked -_ specifically, overlooked by _Seto._ "She's right. We should probably free everybody."

Seto swallows hard before offering up an awkward smile-nod combination. Dear Notch. Brice just huffs and looks down at the ground, so Seto coughs a bit and then whispers a spell. The creaking of cell doors can be heard all over the prison, and the sound is quickly followed by a cacophony of gasps and cheers.

"We should wait outside for a while, in case Lizza and the other kids _were_ in here," Payten says, crossing their arms as former prisoners sprint past us, not paying us any attention.

"A splendid idea," Seto says, but Lizza never comes.


	6. Five: Conspiracy Theorists

_MR PEANUT WAFFLES AND I MADE A FRIGGIN WIKI_

 _I AM ASHAMED_

 _REGARDLES_

 _ADDICT DOT WIKIA DOT COM_

 _JS_

 **Scapegoat**

 **Five: Conspiracy Theorists**

"So, to recap," Payten says, trying not to laugh, "we invaded a secret conference, made friends with two crazy old people who may or may not have turned us in, got kidnapped and imprisoned, and managed to escape, and we're _still_ no closer to accomplishing our goals."

"Well," I point out, "we know where Lizza's _not."_

"Hold up," Danielle butts in, looking at Seto. "You said you have an enchantment on Our City so you know when someone new gets there. So how come you didn't know when the kidnapper came into Our City?"

There's silence.

"Holy conspiracy theory," Brice mutters.

"You're not suggesting someone in Our City is assisting the Dark Mages..?" Seto asks slowly, looking down at Danielle.

"You're so young, why are you thinking about betrayal and crap?" Brice asks, frowning a little.

Danielle makes an odd variety of noises and holds up her hands in a defensive motion.

"Oh, hush, we aren't blaming _you,"_ Seto laughs, and a fond smile grows on Brice's face as he watches the giggling sorcerer. Seto glances up at him, and his smile fades into an almost angry-looking pokerface. Seto winces.

"But, um," Danielle begins, totally oblivious, "that _is_ kind of what I was suggesting, a little bit."

"It might _not_ have been someone in Our City," I offer. "Maybe someone just outside the city boundaries, like… lured the kids out."

"With what, candy?" Payten asks, raising an eyebrow judgmentally.

"Candy?" Danielle echoes, snapping to full attention.

"Nonsense," Seto says, and Danielle pouts. "None of the children ever play in the outer ring of the forest without prompting. I've been told multiple times that the deep forest is far too disconcerting to be a suitable play area."

"Okay, so maybe someone prompted them," I drawl, rolling my eyes. "Work with me here, Seto."

"I'm sorry, it just doesn't seem entirely plausible," Seto says, shrugging slightly.

"Wow," says Brice as he stares at Seto with a less fond smile. "You're real sure about that, huh?"

"Yes, mostly," Seto agrees, nodding half-heartedly and frowning in confusion.

"You wouldn't be trying to _throw us off the trail,_ would you?"

"Oh my disco jeb sheep," Danielle whispers, throwing her hand over her mouth in horror.

"Blasphemy!" I screech, and Payten slams their hand against their heart and pretends it's beating out of their chest in surprise.

"I'm well-versed in sarcasm," Seto begins cautiously.

Brice whispers, "Tell me about it."

"But," he continues, "your words just then sounded _horribly_ unironic."

"Jeb, it's the 'yolo' phase all over again," Payten breathes.

"I wasn't being _unironic,_ I was being _real,"_ Brice spits. Seto frowns and holds up a finger, prepared to inform, but Brice huffs at him so he smiles sheepishly and puts it back down. "Why are you so against the idea of us investigating this as an option?"

"We didn't get a lot of real sleep last night-" I try to excuse him.

"How do we know you didn't kidnap Lizza and the others yourself just so you could hide your Dark Magic addiction a little better?" Brice huffs.

Seto fails to emote.

Danielle makes prayer hands and then turns them down. "Brice. Buddy. Pal, chum, _homeslice._ That's a little bit of a sore spot, so you should probably _not_ joke about that."

Brice crosses his arms and leans back a little.

"Bloody tea crumpets," Danielle whispers. "You're _actually_ not joking?"

Brice blinks. Seto cracks a painful smile.

"That was pretty uncalled for, Brice," Payten finally says, and I'm floored by the lack of pet names. It's realtalk time. "Apologize."

"What, for speaking my mind? I dropped that habit."

"And _I_ picked it up," Seto mutters, masking it with a cough. "Ah, apologies. If you would like to investigate me or our home or the edges of the forest, then, by all means, feel free. I cannot stop you."

Brice squints at him, giving him the "bullcrap" face.

"I cannot stop you," Seto repeats through gritted teeth, "because I care about you and do not wish to harm you."

Brice raises his eyebrows and puts his hands on his hips.

Suddenly, Seto seems to emotionally explode. He's glowing an angry shade of purple, and every time he moves even the slightest bit, the color jumps around him, fluttering like bugs around a light source. And, when he speaks? It feels like I'm being blinded by their movement. "What the _Nether_ did I do to make you believe that I have some sort of vendetta to _hurt_ you?" he shouts, some mixture between a calm resolve and a scarily raised voice. "Regardless of _any_ sort of miscommunication or magical differences or secrets between us, I would never in a _million years_ lay a hand on you and the fact that you can so _blatantly_ speak about such an occurrence as though it is an everyday risk you must fight to avoid screams _every_ ear-ringing volume there is. What did I _do-"_

Unnoticed by the rest of us, Payten has managed to, at some point, summon a bucket full of water. Also unnoticed by us distracted few, they have tiptoed up behind Seto, and they are now pouring the water over his head, soaking his floofy hair and his typical sorcerer robes.

Seto wipes water out of his eyes and splutters as the magical color around him is pushed to the ground by the water, drowned into nothingness until it seeps back towards Seto's feet and disappears. Payten rids themselves of the bucket, crosses their arms, and sighs.

"A-Apologies," Seto whispers, a bit hoarsely. "Bloody temper again, which is no excuse. I will do better understanding your point of view."

"Your turn, Brice," Payten deadpans, glaring at him.

But Brice is frozen, slack-jawed, just like the rest of us. It's always fascinating when Seto loses his temper, as terrible as it sounds to say such a thing. It's just so… pretty? And that is _totally_ not fair. I feel bad for Brice.

"Wow," Brice breathes.

"Come for the magic, stay for the pretty," Seto mutters self-deprecatingly.

"Come for the magic, leave," Brice snorts.

Seto's eyes go wide. Without his even noticing, I think, he brings his arm up to latch onto his other arm, as though shielding himself from our view. Brice reaches out a hand toward him and then pulls back sharply, stumbling over his words. "Uh," he rambles, "that one was, um, that was _actually_ a joke, I'm sorry, that wasn't funny, uh- you're very pretty and I would never leave you- er, no! Wait, not that you're not pretty, you're _really_ pretty, trust me, but, uh, I- er- uh-"

Seto smiles weakly. He looks like he's trying to gather the strength to laugh.

"I'm sorry," Brice says quietly. "I know you wouldn't hurt me."

Seto visibly relaxes, letting his shoulders fall a bit out of their rigid defensive position. But then his eyes widen just that tiny bit, and I can practically _feel_ him realizing he's just backtracked on his make-Brice-hate-me plan. "Ah-"

"No. Hug it out," Payten demands, and Seto gives them a pleading look. They look like they're about to z-snap or something, so Seto hesitantly holds out his arms for Brice.

Brice _slams_ into Seto, wrapping his arms around him tightly and burying his face in his chest. It actually knocks Seto back a few feet, but he quickly recovers and manages to hug back even as his confusion visibly grows.

"It's been so long since you've hugged me," Brice murmurs, and Seto looks like his heart just broke.

"I'm so sorry," Seto mouths, and Brice can't see it. Seto didn't want him to.

"I love you so much," Brice breathes.

Seto squeezes his eyes shut tight. "I know."

"We should… get going," I sigh, wanting neither to ruin Seto's plan nor to progress it.

"I still think we should check all over the city," Danielle says quietly, clearly trying not to interrupt the boys' moment.

"Yes, I suppose that would be wise," Seto says as he pulls away, and I'm not sure he even notices when his hand automatically slips into Brice's. Brice does, though, and he looks elated. "Have you any idea how close-?"

Seto is cut off by a loud buzzing sound that seems to be emanating from his pocket. He smiles sheepishly and digs out a cellphone. "You have a phone?" Danielle asks.

"More importantly, you have a _flip phone?"_ I ask, ashamed.

Seto rolls his eyes. "It operates on magic anyways. I just need to be accessible by everyone in Your- _Our_ City, regardless of whether or not they have control of magic." He flips the phone open and throws it on the ground, and Brice lets out a surprised sort of cry.

"You aren't gonna have a phone for long," Brice mutters, and Seto just laughs and waits.

Within a few seconds, a holographic version of Louis appears above the phone, hovering and translucent. He looks panicked, and his curly red hair is drooping over his eyes. "Seto!" he shouts, his shoulders falling in relief.

"Louis," Seto says, nodding in greeting. His eyebrows furrow seriously. "Why have you contacted me?"

"Another kid went missing," Louis replies, his voice wavering dangerously. "Everyone's freaking out, we're so scared."

Seto curses under his breath and then puts on a lovely smile for Louis. "Stay calm. When did you all notice the child being gone? I thought I instructed all of you children to be accompanied by an adult at all times."

"You'd better be with an adult!" Danielle scolds him, shaking her finger at the hologram.

"Danielle!" Louis laughs. "I missed you. And don't worry, I'm with Michael right now. He's watching over me."

"That Danielle on the phone?" asks a deeper voice, and a hologram version of Michael crouches down beside Louis.

"Danielle and Seto!"

"And many others," Seto says impatiently. "Answer my questions, please. When did the child go missing?"

"Oh, _Seto,"_ Michael sighs, sounding displeased. He quickly covers it up with a weak smile. "It was only a few hours ago. We've just now gotten everyone calmed down enough to make calling you an option."

Seto breathes out a little too forcefully. "A few hours ago." He runs a hand through his hair and looks down. "I suspect you were right, Danielle," he sighs.

"And if everyone was being watched over, then it _must_ have been someone in Our City," Brice says quietly.

"Brice!" Michael greets him. "I hope you're being careful around all that…" He winces. "Uh, _Dark magic."_

"It's fine," Brice says, shooting a sideways glance at Seto, who smiles as best he can before groaning and running his hand through his hair again.

"Sorry. I'm just worried about you," Michael sighs, and Seto grits his teeth.

"I want all the children gathered in the basement of my and Brice's house," Seto commands, thinking quickly and studiously ignoring Michael's comments. "In fact, I want _everyone_ gathered there. It should stretch the length of the forest anyways, so there will be plenty of space. I will instruct my magic to accommodate all of your needs when you enter the room. Allow no one to leave. If _anyone,_ anyone at _all,_ must leave the basement, I want you to accompany them and ensure that they are safe." He takes a deep breath. "Okay. We have to go, Michael, Louis, but-"

"Stay safe," Danielle whispers.

"Will do, Dani!" Louis salutes playfully, and Michael nods solemnly before hanging up.

"Yikes," Brice laughs nervously, copying Seto's word.

"Indeed," Seto agrees, letting his eyes fall shut for a moment.

They stay shut for a little too long, and Seto rests his head on Brice's shoulder.

"Uh, Seto..?" Brice asks hesitantly, peering down at him, and Seto jumps half a foot away as his eyes fly wide open.

"I-I apologize," Seto stammers, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. He forces himself to stand up a little straighter.

"Have you been sleeping?" Brice asks softly, stepping closer to his boyfriend.

"Ah- Well, I- You see, I've just been so-" Seto sighs and flinches back. "Not quite."

"But you go to sleep normally with me every night, don't you?"

"I, ah- I stay until I'm certain you're asleep. Then I…" Seto shrugs helplessly. "There are many, many things happening. Too many at once, I'm afraid. And then there are the children from Our City going missing, and I… I can't rest while they could be hurting."

"But what about _you?"_ Brice asks sadly, pulling Seto closer.

"Ah, I…" He swallows hard. "My problems pale in comparison," he says, but I _know_ they don't.

Brice glances up at the setting sun. "It's time to rest anyways. You'd better get some sleep tonight."

Seto opens his mouth, probably to sass someone, but then he closes it and sighs. "Yeah. You're right." He snaps his fingers as his eyes roll up into his head, and Brice flinches a little as dark purple sparks flick around Seto and five sleeping bags appear out of thin air and fall to the floor. "I've been keeping them in a rift," Seto explains, floating one over to each of us. Brice takes his cautiously and then shrugs and lays it out on the ground, and the rest of us quickly follow suit. After a few minutes of adjustments, we end up with our sleeping bags set up in a small circle. Being the blessing that he is, Seto is quick to cast a lantern spell that puts a sparkly little ball of purple light in the middle of our sleep-circle.

"I feel like we should be roasting s'mores," I laugh, but then I quickly shake my head to stop Seto from summoning marshmallows. "No, Seto, it's fine, really," I insist as he warily puts down his casting hand. "Go to sleep."

I'm not sure if Brice really knows it or not, but he's running his fingers gently through Seto's hair, and Seto is basically asleep already because of it. Soon Danielle seems to have joined slumberland as well, seeing as she hasn't spoken a while, and Brice carefully removes his hand from Seto's hair.

"He has a cute little kitten snore," I coo, staring at Seto.

Brice smiles, holding back his laughter so as not to wake the sleepers.

Suddenly, Seto turns over in his sleep, and the light in the middle of our circle flickers between Light and 'Dark' magic for a moment. I guess it's hard to control color spells when you're deep in dreamland. Brice, seeing the magic's changes, sighs and pulls his knees up to his chest.

The words leave my mouth before I can properly think them through. "Brice, why are you so against Dark magic?"

"Besides the obvious reasons," Payten pipes up, helping me out.

Brice winces slightly and hugs his knees to his chest more tightly. "I'm not."

"Pfft," Payten says.

Brice swallows hard as he peers into the magical light. For a while, he keeps quiet, but then he offers up a half-hearted shrug and sighs in defeat. "I don't know," he says quietly, an invitation for an invitation, "it was a long time ago."

"So was the creation of the Earth, but it probably still counts as important," Payten snorts.

Brice chuckles as the light reflects off his eyes, which suddenly seem too hollow and too full at the same time. "… I was young," he breathes out, and I can see his warm breath in the cold night. "I was super young. What, ten? Sure, ten. And I really… really looked up to my older brother." He glances up at us and laughs. "Like any self-respecting kid. Anyways, monkey say, monkey do, right? And Michael…"

He takes a deep breath and sits up a little straighter. "I used to have nightmares a lot. And Mom and Dad were always so tired from working with the Light Mages… I got into the habit of turning to Michael for comfort. He'd let me sleep in his room with him sometimes. Sometimes he'd stay up and tell me stories. He was always the hero."

"Sounds great," I comment, letting out a breathy laugh.

"I thought so, too," Brice agrees. "But one night - it was real late - I tiptoed up to his door, and, just as my hand was hovering over the door, ready to knock…

"This orange-ish light was flickering under the door. And that's all fine and dandy! That's the color of Michael's magic, so obviously I just thought he was lighting up his room or something, but it- it was so… murky, I guess. Dirty-looking. I opened the door and he was levitating over his bed, laughing silently and casting pointless spells all over the place."

Payten nods. "Dark magic."

"Exactly!" Brice laughs, sounding deflated. "And he- he told me…"

Brice shifts around in the grass and puts his hands down to play with the individual blades. "I was never any good at magic - everyone knows that," he says, staring down at his hands as he plays. "At first, I was terrible at remembering spells - then I was terrible at everything else, too. It sucked, let me tell you. And Michael was always tutoring me, always trying to help me get better. I never really did.

"But then the Dark magic thing happened. That night in his room, he offered me… a lesson. Right then and there, magic lesson. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that I trusted him, and if he said that this new magic would make me better, then… who was I not to believe him? So I started casting Dark magic."

" _Michael_ got you-" I begin with wide eyes. I can't manage to finish. The subject of Brice's past addiction has always been fuzzy and blurred around the edges, only ever mentioned in passing on the verge of a different conversation. Now it's finally beginning to turn out well-defined, and- and I can't quite believe it.

"Yeah. And I… was good at it. Really good, I was great," Brice laughs. "But once I started showing signs of improvement… That was that. Michael didn't wanna tutor me anymore."

"Sounds to me like he was scared you'd catch up to him," Payten comments, and Brice furrows his eyebrows.

"That… makes sense," he says, shrugging again. "He always wanted to be the best. That's how he became head of the Light Mages, I think - he was the best. I _definitely_ wasn't. Although, at one point, um, _I_ was actually considered as an option for the next head Light Mage," Brice says awkwardly, blushing slightly. "Everyone liked me, for whatever reason. And they _thought_ I was okay with magic because I mixed Dark with my Light. And then it was- it was between me and Michael, which one of us would get the place, and then-" He wrinkles his nose. "Someone figured it out. About my Dark magic addiction. Oh, Jeb, it sucked. The 'rumor' gained standing, and the Light Mages made me quit cold turkey. I didn't- I didn't tell them about Michael. I didn't want to tear away what he had worked so hard for, and… Anyways. Michael, being the new head mage, was able to keep me in the guild. But I- I was-"

He swallows hard. "It wasn't a good time."

"Wow," I say quietly.

Payten frowns. "Huh."

"What?" asks Brice.

"Nothing," replies Payten. They shake their head and laugh. "I think I'm gonna hit the hay. 'M too tired to think."

"I feel that feel," I say.

"I guess we _should_ get to sleep," Brice sighs, lying down. Payten and I follow suit, and I burrow down into my sleeping bag. A few moments later, Brice starts snoring, and Payten's breath evens out in sleep.

I let my eyes fall shut.

"Jenny?"

My eyes fly open at the sound of the small voice. "Danielle? How long have you been up?" I whisper as I try to get my eyes to focus on her in the darkness.

"I never really went to sleep," she admits. "I just… Do you think..?"

"Think what?"

"About Michael."

"I…" I take my sweet time answering a question like that. _How_ do I answer a question like that? I eventually settle on "I… think that's a big jump to make."

"I guess we're on our way home anyway," Danielle says quietly, almost as though to herself.

"Everything will be okay," I promise her. "One way or another."

She's quiet for a long time. I almost think she's actually fallen asleep.

"I think it would break Brice's heart if he found out," she breathes.

"We don't even know if it's true."

"But if we're thinking about it, then there has to be _something_ wrong, don'tcha think? Otherwise it wouldn't even cross our minds."

I don't have an answer for that.

"I want Louis to be okay," Danielle whispers after a while.

"Me, too," I reply, because I don't know what else I can say.

"He's my best friend," Danielle continues.

"Something's bothering you," I realize, carefully sitting up so I don't wake the others. "Something other than the kidnappings."

"How'd you know?"

"Call it a sister sense."

She giggles a little but then quickly sobers up. "It doesn't really even make sense for me to be thinking about it when all this other stuff is happening," Danielle says, sounding smaller than usual.

"Feelings don't care if the timing is inconvenient," I laugh quietly, looking down. "They just do what they want."

"I'm scared," she blurts.

"We all are." I shrug sadly, glancing up at her again. She's sitting up now, too. "Nothing wrong with that."

"No, I'm scared about me and Louis," Danielle mumbles, looking down at her hands. She's absentmindedly braiding her hair as we speak. Something to do, I guess. "I'm scared because I used to be a boy."

I'll admit, that shocks me a little. I can't see Danielle's face very well, but she's braiding faster now, and I think she must be nervous. "Why would that matter? You're not a boy anymore, and even if you were, why..?"

"Louis likes boys," she says simply, and the realization dawns right as she seems to decide I don't quite get it. She goes on to explain as best she can. "Sometimes when we're talking, he'll tell me about some cute boy he saw in Our City. He's starting to care a little more about the whole…" She wrinkles her nose. "… 'love' thing."

"Are you jealous?" I ask, my eyebrows flying up in surprise.

"No!" she whisper-yells, and I glance at Payten to confirm they're still asleep before signaling for Danielle to continue. "No," she says, more quietly this time. "But I'm scared he might start thinking _I'm_ cute. Because- Because I have boy parts. I'm afraid he'll think I count, but, Jenny, I don't _want_ to count. I don't really wanna count for _anyone."_

I take a moment to respond, and I think it worries her. Really, though, I'm not mad, I'm just planning my words. "I…" I smile a little. "I don't think Louis will fall in love with you, Danielle. I know he's still finding himself and all that, but, as far as we know, he's strictly into cis boys. You know what that means, right?"

My sister nods dutifully. "Duh," she says, less dutifully.

"Good," I snort. "So I think you're safe from that situation. Even if he does ask you out, you can always just let him down gently. Your friendship is great, you two would get through it. But, now that you've brought this up, I'm _wondering…"_

"I don't like girls, either," Danielle interrupts me, shaking her head. "I like them as friends. I like everyone as friends! But that's… all." She winces as though expecting a negative reaction from me.

"That's fine," I assure her, shrugging and smiling slightly. "What about people in between boy and girl, or both, or neither?"

"I just want friends," Danielle says, sounding pained.

"One more question. This is the last one, I promise," I say seriously. Danielle leans in, and I lower my voice. It sounds more secretive than it is. "What made you think I'd be mad about you not liking anyone like that?"

Danielle opens her mouth for a moment and then clamps it shut again. "I- I mean, I didn't really think you'd be _mad,_ really, but-" She frowns. "Everyone in Our City is really cool and really nice and I really like them! They let everyone be whoever they want, like Seto and Brice dating or you having a super big crush on Payten."

I blush wildly. Thank Notch it's dark.

"But all the old people are always talking about Our City's 'next generation,'" Danielle continues, "and I just… feel like I wouldn't be good at making a next generation."

"First of all," I begin, "you practically _are_ the next generation, so, no need to worry." Danielle smiles, and I laugh. "Second: You're, like, _twelve._ You aren't _traditionally_ expected to feel anything for anyone for a long time."

Danielle's smile falls just a little bit, and I hurry on.

" _But,"_ I say, as firmly as I can while still staying quiet, "even though everyone around you seems to be into something - like Louis is into boys and Lizza is into girls and I'm into _everything -_ some people just aren't into _anything._ Like, _ever."_

Danielle's smile slowly regains its former strength.

"And if you aren't into anything, like, ever, then…" I shrug. "Then that's okay. That's awesome, actually, because I don't have to worry about randomly getting a niece or nephew when you're, like, sixteen," I laugh.

I almost fall on top of Payten's sleeping form when Danielle slams into my chest, but I catch myself just in time. Then Danielle is wrapping her arms around me, and I'm grinning in the darkness and hugging her back, and I'm thinking, _"Wow, I love my sister."_

"Thank you, Jenny," Danielle says quietly, and I let her hug me until she gets tired of it. But she actually never gets tired of it, and I realize after a while that it's because she's finally fallen asleep, so I slide her back into her own sleeping bag as gently as I can. She nuzzles down against the fabric, and I smile and brush her hair out of her face and lay a soft kiss on her forehead.

When I, myself, fall asleep, I dream of family.


	7. Six: Anagapesis

_pfffft this chapter is a mess lol i am so sorry xD_

 _also! happy late christmas, and new year and stuff! and happy late other holidays/general holiday season if you dont celebrate christmas and yeah!_

 _anyways xD_

 _enjoy, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!_

 **Scapegoat**

 **Six: Anagapesis**

"They're targeting us now," I realize as the Dark Mages surround us.

"Because of you," Brice groans, looking over at Seto, who rolls his eyes and turns to glare at the oncoming Dark Mages.

"Then they'll die because of me, too," Seto growls, and Brice's "bamf" observation from six years ago suddenly has a lot more credibility.

"Excuse you," Payten slurs, slowly sitting up. "I was sleeping."

"Good thing you stopped," Danielle laughs nervously.

"Now would be a good time to follow through!" I shout to Seto, because, okay, maybe there are a whole lot of Dark Mages slowly surrounding us, wielding magic staffs and hands full of fireballs. _Maybe._

"Surrender peacefully," commands one of the Mages.

Seto snorts and crosses his arms. "Here you are, a small army of _Mages,_ and not a one of you knows the magic word," he sighs.

One of the stupider Mages squints and says slowly, " _Please_ surrender peacefully?"

"What a comeback! Truly inspiring, here we've come to find out that one of the Mages does, in fact, know basic manners."

"So are you… gonna surrender?" asks the Mage.

"No," says Seto, splaying out his hands and knocking every Mage within a ten foot radius unconscious.

"We may have overestimated the limits of Light magic," one of the remaining Dark Mages mutters, and Brice glares at Seto. Meanwhile, Payten and I look at Seto and internally applaud him.

"I'm not one for one liners, but," Seto begins.

"Yes you are," Payten sighs.

"Yes I am!" Seto laughs, snapping his fingers and sending the rest of the Mages to their knees. He glances over at Brice for no more than a second, likely looking to see if he's impressed him, but when he sees Brice's glare, his smile turns forced. He turns his attention back to the one last standing Mage, who has somehow dodged Seto's overpowered attack.

"Ahem," Seto coughs, and the Mage falls dead.

"That was cool," I comment passively.

"That was terrible!" Brice yells. "And cool," he mutters. Seto's eyes light up, but he doesn't say anything.

"Bloody tea crumpets," Danielle giggles.

"Rekt," Payten agrees.

"I can't _believe_ you all!" Brice huffs, crossing his arms and jutting out his bottom lip. "I mean- Dark magic, guys! _Super_ dangerous." He looks over at Seto and frowns. "Don't encourage him." Seto rolls his eyes.

But then, suddenly, Seto goes stock still for a moment, and then he falls to his knees with a pained groan.

"Seto!" Brice shouts, carefully pulling him back to his feet, and Seto grinds his teeth together as he leans into Brice's hold.

"Apologies," he grits out. "It'll pass."

"Why won't you _stop casting?"_ Brice asks, almost angrily. "I- I _get_ that it isn't easy to stop. I get that! But you won't even listen to me when I try to help you, you always just push me away, and-"

"Double apologies," Seto replies, and Brice doesn't seem to catch the way Seto's eyes roll up a bit as he casts what must be a mental spell. Dark magic doesn't require such an action. But Brice doesn't catch it, so when Seto's artificially dark purple magic swirls around them both, Brice freaks and jumps away, leaving Seto to stumble forward a few steps in his absence.

"No! I don't want it to touch me!" Brice practically screeches.

"Oh, calm down," Danielle says, rolling her eyes, but Brice frantically shakes his head.

"No. Don't touch me."

"Don't let my magic touch you, or…?" Seto trails off, raising his eyebrows as though merely amused.

"Neither! Just- Don't touch me," Brice says quietly, looking down. "It's like you don't even hear me when I talk anymore. It's like you don't even see me, you don't even _care."_

Seto opens his mouth but then clamps it shut before Brice can see it, and my heart hurts for him.

"You're not gonna say anything?" Brice asks in barely a whisper, looking back up at Seto through his drooping hair. "Please say something."

Seto shrugs carelessly, but Payten and I can see him digging his nails into the palm of his other hand behind his back, forcing himself to keep his pokerface up. "What is there to say?" he asks.

Brice gapes at him, opening and closing his mouth over and over again as tears begin to drip from his eyes. "Seto."

"Anagapesis," Seto says simply.

"W-What?"

"Anagapesis," Seto repeats. "Noun. 'No longer feeling any affection for someone you once loved.'"

"Oh my Notch," Danielle whispers, utterly horrified. To be honest, I'm horrified, too, and Payten looks like they're about to punch someone - whether it's Seto or Brice, I can't be sure, but - let's be honest - it's probably Seto.

"Well- Well-" Brice clenches his fist and stomps his foot. "Well, then, _fine!_ I don't wanna be with you anymore, anyways!"

"Good. Then it's official," Seto says calmly. He drags his nails down the palm of his hand and then pulls both hands out from behind his back, smiling genially. "We've broken up."

"Yeah. We have," Brice chokes out.

"Wait, you should talk about this," I beg, stepping forward. Seto glares at me out of the corner of his eye, not even bothering to turn to face me as I speak. For a moment, I convince myself to shut up.

"This is too much," Payten says, speaking for me. "I don't care what _either_ of your intentions are," they say, glaring meaningfully at Seto, "this is not the way to go."

"What are you on about?" Seto asks, still playing innocent. He looks like he's seconds away from flat-out growling at us. He looks… desperate.

" _What are you on about?"_ Brice mocks him, imitating his accent quite terribly even as he wipes away tears. "Jeb, that's so annoying. I swear you just do it to be special."

"What- the accent?" Seto asks, actually caught off guard.

"Yes, the accent," Brice sighs in exasperation. "Ugh. It's so obnoxious."

"Oh," Seto says quietly, so quietly that I doubt Brice even heard it. He clears his throat. "T-Then-" He clears his throat again and begins magnifying his own accent. "Then I hope you are thoroughly annoyed."

"Ugh!" Brice throws up his hands and then shoots me and Payten a look as if to say, 'Can you believe him?' "Whatever. Screw you. I'm-" He glances around, peering far into the difference and eventually allowing his eyes to lock onto a small fort-type-thing. "-going to find the missing children."

Brice stomps away, toward the fort.

"I think that went quite- rather- pretty well," Seto says, sounding small. It sounds wrong, and it isn't until a few seconds later that I realize he was forcing an American accent.

"It went terribly," Payten deadpans.

"Don't take sides," I remind them gently, and they sigh.

"W-What just happened?" Danielle asks, looking up at Seto with wide, teary eyes.

"Oh, dear," Seto mumbles, and a bit of his accent slips through even though I can tell he's trying very hard not to let it. "Ah- Well, you see, Danielle, it's- sometimes things just don't work out between two people, and so they- they break up."

Danielle crosses her arms. "But you and Brice have always worked out just fine," she argues.

"Yeah," Seto whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. "We have."

"Then why did you break up!?" my sister practically shouts at him.

"I don't want him to- I don't want to hurt him," Seto breathes as though each word causes him pain. "And before you reprimand me for hurting him regardless, I- I _know_ Brice. I know him like I knew Dark magic - that is to say, very, very well. And Brice is sensitive - so sensitive - and he wears his heart on his sleeve, it seems- and- and-" Seto's eyes fly open. "I can see how much he's hurting right now. Good _Notch,_ I can see. But I'm thoroughly convinced that… that it is the better of two bad things for him. Once he moves on, starts hating me instead of missing me- well, then everything will be better."

Danielle is very good with words, and she loves Seto as though he were a second father. But right now, she chooses to be horrifyingly blunt - perhaps because she is still only a child, and children make mistakes, or perhaps simply because Seto has angered her more now than he ever has before. Regardless of the reason…

"He already hates you," she says with a smile. "I know because he told us so."

"Is that so?" Seto asks, equally calm - or so it seems. His eyes turn glassy, and when he speaks, his voice is raspy as though he is trying to keep from crying. "Well! Isn't that wonderful."

"Seto," I begin, quietly, regretfully.

"No, no explanation is needed," he informs me kindly, forcing a smile.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," I insist.

"It's all right! This is what I wanted, isn't it?"

But not like this. He wanted Brice to hate him _because of_ the break up - learning that Brice supposedly hated him long before that is something painful and wrong that Seto should not have had to experience.

I don't say anything.

"Well. We ought to catch up to him, I suppose," Seto says, turning to go after Brice. "Can't have him going in alone."

"Be there in a sec," I call after him, and Seto nods and continues on his way.

Once he's out of earshot, I immediately turn on my little sister. "What the Nether was that!?"

"He deserved it!" Danielle protests, throwing her hands up, and I try not to growl at her.

"Of course he didn't! He's _Seto,_ he's Brice's number one fanboy!"

"Not anymore, apparently! He basically told Brice he didn't love him anymore!"

"Yeah, but he didn't _mean it!"_ I huff in exasperation. "Are we talking about the same Seto, here? That man is _so_ in love that it actually physically pains me to go anywhere near him on Valentine's Day because I just _know_ he'll ask me to help him prepare some weirdly elaborate surprise for Brice!"

"Well, it's not Valentine's Day, now, is it?" Danielle snaps. "Seto was a total jerk back there, and he deserves every consequence that comes his way because of it!"

"He's _doing_ it for _Brice!"_ I fume, stomping my foot and getting right up in my sister's face. "He's _dying_ and he doesn't want Brice to mourn him!"

Her face falls. "What?"

"Crap," I blurt, quickly glancing at Payten for help. They just sigh and shake their head. "Uh."

"Please," Danielle whispers, letting her eyes fall closed. "Please tell me you weren't being serious."

"I- I-"

"Jenny," she begs, sounding pained. _"Please."_

I sigh and look down. "… He's dying, Danielle."

"No," she chokes out.

"I'm sorry, I- He didn't want us to tell anyone. He wanted to make Brice - and, as a result, the rest of Our City - hate him, so that when he died, it wouldn't- we wouldn't be-" I shake my head and look back up at her. "He doesn't have much time left."

"Seto," she cries pitifully, and then she lurches forward and throws her arms around me. "I don't wanna lose my Seto!"

Payten, over in the corner, looks down as though not to intrude. It may be a private moment, but I wish it weren't. I wish Seto, at least, were here - to comfort Danielle.

And I wish Brice were here, too.

To comfort Seto.

"I'm so sorry, Danielle," I begin. "That's why we've been rushing so much, I- We were trying to find Miss May, because she kind of has a history with Seto, and we thought maybe she could help us find a cure, or something, and-"

"We'll find her," Danielle says suddenly, pushing me away. When my eyes meet hers, I can actually _see_ how determined she is to save Seto. Her fists are clenched along with her teeth, she's got her eyebrows tilted downward like she's ready for war, and I'm pretty sure I'd be dead right now if I were the thing standing between Seto and his health. With a couple powerful blinks, her tears are gone. "We'll find Miss May, I swear we will. I won't let him die."

"Danielle-" Payten butts in.

"No, I mean it! We're gonna save him!" Danielle shouts, stomping her foot just like I did. I think we both got it from Brice. "Come on. We'll find Lizza and the others and stop the person who's been taking them, and then we'll find Miss May and save Seto!"

I can't help but smile, especially after Payten smiles first. "Okay," I give in. "Okay. We'll save him."

"Yes! It's _never_ too late!" Danielle shrieks, and then she darts toward the fort after Seto.

"It's never too late," Payten shrugs.

"Guess not."

* * *

Just before we reach the fort, Seto's pocket buzzes, and he glances warily at Brice, who just throws his hands up. Sighing, Seto takes his phone out of his pocket.

The hologram appears before Seto even drops the phone. "Louis' gone," Ty says almost immediately.

"What? _How?"_ Seto asks with wide eyes.

"We don't know, he's just gone," Jason says helplessly, leaning into Ty.

"No," Danielle breathes sadly, "not Louis…"

"We'll find him," Seto says to her before returning to the conversation. "When?"

"A few minutes ago. He was just… Here one minute, gone the next," Ty answers. "Right now we've got everyone huddled in a corner. Waiting for instructions."

"Is Michael okay? He was with Louis," Brice says worriedly.

Jason's eyes go wide. "Is Michael here!?" he calls out, looking over in the direction of what must be the crowd. "We haven't seen him-"

"He's here," Ty breathes, relieved. "He was in the back, comforting some kid."

"Dear Jeb," Brice huffs, throwing his head back in exasperation. "Had me worried."

"Okay, we- we're on our way, we've just got a base to get around," Seto promises. "Give us an hour or so." He hangs up.

"We're not going around the base," Brice guesses, sighing in defeat.

"Did you think we would?"

"No."

"Good for you," Seto says tersely, looking up at the base as though sizing it up. There's a moat-type thing - I think it actually qualifies as a chasm, and there's nothing but abyss inside of it - surrounding the place, but I guess that won't be a problem for Seto. "We will _skim_ the place for information. Then we must be on our way."

"What if it isn't empty?" I ask nervously.

"Then we'll _make_ it empty," Seto replies, smiling politely. I am suddenly very aware of how glad I am to be on his good side.

"Psycho," Brice mumbles as he peers over the moat and through a slat in the wall, and Seto frowns and crosses his arms.

"I believe you need this psycho's help in order to enter," Seto says, raising an eyebrow. Brice wavers under the weight of all that sass.

"Whatever," he eventually huffs, stepping out of the way.

Seto teleports us all the few yards to the other side of the moat, and then, rather unceremoniously, he blows up the door. The blast sends Brice jumping back (and hiding behind Seto, but he quickly recovers and jumps away again, pretending to be disgusted), and Seto rolls his eyes and strolls on through.

"Um, okay, ignoring what just happened, what kind of 'fort' has a normal door?" I ask as I cautiously follow after Seto.

"I suspect it is less of a fort and more of a meeting area," Seto replies, peeking around a corner. "It looks like it was adapted from some old ruins, possibly from a previous fort used during the Dark War."

"So, one of the ones you obliterated?" Payten asks.

"Precisely," Seto laughs. He glances around the fort-thing and nods. "I believe it's empty."

"So we can explore?" Danielle asks.

"Go at it," Payten replies.

The place is pretty big. Like… _really_ pretty big. Because of this, I _guess_ it's a little understandable that whoever built this place didn't bother putting in any flooring. The walls, weak and an interesting mix between previous ruins and cheap wood, are scattered across the place like a maze.

"I'm lost," calls Brice, confirming my analysis.

"One moment," Seto calls back in response, likely rolling his eyes. He eventually walks off in the direction of Brice's voice, and I trail after him, not sure what I should be looking for. I nearly run into one of the silly walls.

And that's when I see it- something flashing red, tiny but still visible, hanging from the wall. It's got a black sort of case, but I don't think that'd matter much if it went off. "Uh, Seto..?" I ask nervously.

"That is a bomb," Seto confirms bluntly. "And I'll bet it's here so they can set it off if they're alerted of _our_ presence here."

"Why are they always after us?" Danielle pouts.

"Apologies, that might be my fault," Seto laughs. He's doing a surprisingly good job of pretending the break up and the events after it never happened. "Regardless, we ought to be extra careful from now on. If any of you see anyone coming, alert me _immediately_ so that we can evacuate."

"Sir, yes, sir!" I reply, saluting jokingly, and Seto rolls his eyes.

"Hey, guys?" Brice calls from farther out in the maze. "I, uh, I think I found something."

We jog around the maze, following his voice until we finally locate him. And when we do arrive, what we see is a one hundred percent blessing. "Is that what I think it is?" Danielle asks.

"Finding Louis, Lizza, and the others might be easier than we thought," I comment, staring up at the map. It's a crude drawing of some super secret building, and, while the rooms aren't labeled, it's obvious that this place is important. I'm ninety-percent sure that whoever's kidnapping the kids (in Our City or not, regardless)is keeping them in a safe, secret, guarded place - and this definitely fits the bill. Even if we didn't find Lizza and the others there, we'd definitely figure out where they went and who's been capturing them inside Our City.

"Louis's gonna be okay!" Danielle cheers.

"You betcha, babe," Payten says, smiling fondly.

"Seems simple enough," Seto mutters, and I'm actually not sure if he's being sarcastic or not. The actual directions to the place are written in weird, indecipherable scribbles that can't _possibly_ be a part of the normal English language.

"They're coordinates, written phonetically in a fairly uncommon dialect of a fairly common sorcerer's language," Seto explains when he sees us all looking at him strangely. The brunet then summons a pen and, when it drops into his hands, grabs Payten's hand and scribbles a set of numbers on their palm.

"Why mine and not your own?" Payten asks, squinting suspiciously.

"Ah…" Seto smiles and shrugs. "No reason."

Payten squints so much they might as well fall underground and land on a patch of golden flowers, and Danielle catches on and pouts a little.

Seto simply rolls his eyes in response, likely trying to stay distanced, and strolls further into the base, which turns out to be very, _very big._ When we finally reach what seems to be the middle of the base, it feels like we've been walking for ages.

When Seto first turns around to offer us all a rest or perhaps a teleport, his eyes narrow a little. "You've… not exactly been subtle with the fact that we've been here," he says slowly, taking in the mess of a trail we've left. And, admittedly, our trail is _definitely_ a mess.

"You were walking too fast, we couldn't keep up," Payten says, shrugging carelessly. "So we blasted holes through the maze walls so we could just go in a straight line towards you."

"… Interesting tactic?" Seto tries, eyebrows going up a little.

"Oh crap," Brice squeaks.

"Yes, it is a _bit_ of a problem," Seto admits, awkwardly trying not to offend us. "Because if the Mages who frequent this place and-or live in it were to suddenly show up, our presence would be terribly _obvious-"_

"Seto!" Brice hisses, standing on tip-toes and pointing over the short walls, past the moat, ages away. "The Mages _did_ suddenly show up!"

Seto curses under his breath.

"Let's just run!" I beg, glancing around nervously.

"Through the maze to the 'closest' exit, or through the rubble you four have left behind?" Seto asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, what about a teleport? You could do that, right?"

He opens and closes his mouth, wincing slightly, and I groan. He's weak. The constant 'crashes' plus his bamf move with the Mages from earlier - he can't teleport us all such a large distance.

"I can literally see their entire army marching toward us," Payten says worriedly. "If they see their place in pieces, they're gonna set off the bombs."

"We're doomed," Danielle groans.

Seto breathes out slowly, looks at Danielle's sad face, and shakes his head. "No, we're not. I can cast an illusion so that the Mages see their base as perfectly assembled and uninvaded. Meanwhile, you four can use the extra time to find a way out of this place."

"This base goes on in each direction for at least a mile," Brice says, his tone laced with concern. I think he's purposely ignoring the last bit of Seto's idea. "That's a _huge_ illusion. There's no way you can do that."

Seto shoots him a glare. "Never doubt me. I am perfectly capable," he says, even though a few minutes ago he wordlessly admitted to being too weak for a teleport.

"Oh, really?" asks Brice, crossing his arms and steeling his gaze. "That isn't what you tell yourself at night in our home, when you're collapsed on the floor gasping about how you're totally worthless. Let's be honest, you've got more doubt for yourself than I _ever_ could."

Seto opens his mouth and then closes it again, briefly glancing over at Danielle, Payten, and me. Then he snarls and shakes his head and holds up his hands to begin the illusion.

It's amazing to watch it begin, watch it slowly spread out in front of us like a wall painted with a terrifying mural. But the moment it's up, Seto is struggling - whether he wants to admit it out loud or not, the whole crash thing has been taking a toll on him, and his power isn't what it could be.

"Seto, you can't keep this up," I say, watching him tremble with the weight of the spell.

"Yes, I can," he argues, pushing his hands higher as though to lift the spell's weight better. "Go! I'll catch up."

"No, you can't!" Payten joins in, ignoring the instruction and stepping forward to climb the stairs to the platform Seto is settled on.

"I can keep this up!" Seto yells, falling to his knees but keeping his hands in the air. The artificial darkness drains from his purple magic as he focuses all of his power on the illusion - even the tiny color illusion spell is too much to keep up.

"Woah," Brice breathes, watching the color-changing, wisping magic in awe.

"I can keep it up!" Seto repeats, squeezing his eyes shut, and Brice gently pushes Payten aside to take their place on the steps. _"Go!"_

Brice glances over at Danielle, Payten, and me. "Did you guys see tha-" His eyes widen when he sees our guilty faces.

"I can, I can, I can," Seto cries, his magic fluctuating quickly between light and dark purple.

"Have you been _faking_ the re-addiction?" Brice asks, still awe-fully as he moves closer still.

"I can keep it up!" Seto cries out, his hands slowly shaking lower. "Seven more days, I can keep this up!"

"Seto," Brice whispers, now close enough to touch. "Why would you fake it?" He pauses as Seto frantically shakes his head. "You've been faking all of it, haven't you? You still love me - you just don't want me to know."

Seto lets out a sob, curling in as if the weight of the spell is crushing him.

Brice lowers himself to his knees, putting a careful hand on Seto's cheek. "You faked it all… but why?"

"Seven days left," Seto chokes out. "Seven days left, I told myself I could make it."

"Seven days left until what?" asks Brice, and Payten and I have to fight not to shield our eyes.

"Until I _die,"_ Seto sobs out, and the illusion falls.

There's instant chaos from the Dark Mages, who have come so far as to be right outside the base. Seto is full-out sobbing now, his body wracked with something awful, and Brice's eyes are wide with unsurety. "What do we _do?"_ asks Danielle.

"The Mages sound close enough that they wouldn't risk setting off the bombs for fear of hurting themselves," Payten says. "So now we just need to _run."_

"I can't," Seto gasps, and Brice frantically shakes his head.

"I'll carry you," he says firmly, without giving Seto so much as a choice.

"N-No-" Seto begins, pretending he has a choice anyways.

"Shut up, Seto. You're as light as Danielle, you hardly eat anything," Brice complains, lifting Seto up bridal style quite easily.

"Hey! I eat _everything!"_ Danielle protests despite our situation.

"Yeah, but you still manage to be tiny," Brice mumbles.

" _Mortem,"_ Seto manages to say, but the target of his spell - a Dark Mage that had found our position - only stumbles back a little despite the fact that I _know_ that was an instant death spell.

"Run!" Payten commands, and I grab Danielle's hand and yank her forward ahead of Brice and Seto to catch up to Payten in the maze.

Danielle keeps glancing behind us, slowing us down but also buying us time as she wards off the Mages with spells from her free hand. Meanwhile, Brice is actually moving very quickly, with Seto whispering tiny spells whenever a Mage gets too close. Payten is up ahead, peering around corners and checking for any Mages that might be waiting to ambush us, and so we actually make it to the edge of the destroyed base quite easily.

But then we come to the chasm we were all Seto-teleported over to get to the base in the first place. And maybe we'd still be able to cross it - maybe Brice could magic us up an easy bridge or something!

… If a powerful Mage weren't standing right in front of us, blocking our way.

"If you know anything, you know who I am," the Dark Mage says haughtily. "I'm the general of this base. I fight better than anyone here." He laughs evilly, which in my opinion is a little bit over the top, but I guess he can do whatever he wants when he's general. "The only one out of any of you who could've possibly defeated me is the fabled Dark Sorcerer, and even he is now incapacitated, unable to perform anything but the weakest of spells!"

" _Mortem,"_ Seto replies with all the sass of a man not currently held helpless in his ex-boyfriend's arms.

As expected, the Dark Mage general merely stumbles back.

 _Right into the chasm._

He screams as he falls, and Brice lets out a sigh of relief and awkwardly twists out a hand for Seto to high-five. Seto looks like he's about to pass out, so Brice high-fives Danielle instead.

"Bless you, Seto," Payten laughs, and then they build a small magic bridge across the chasm for Brice to run over.

We run. We run a lot, and not a single one of the Mages chases us, and I'm ninety percent sure it's because they got lost in their own maze. Regardless, we're nearing Our City.

Brice has cast at least ten strength spells on himself. Seto is passed out. Danielle and Payten are scouting out up ahead while I stay behind with Brice.

We're almost home.


	8. Seven: Blood (And Water!)

_me? late? no, you must be thinking of someone else. im neeeeeever late!_

 _tHIS IS LIKE FIVE THOUSAND WORDS THO. DIGGITY DANG DIDDLY._

 _in other news, ive changed my name._

 _call me haven. :)_

 **Scapegoat**

 **Seven: Blood (And Water!)**

It isn't long before Seto's eyes flicker open, and he awkwardly gets to his feet and silently insists that he can walk on his own.

Everyone is uncomfortably silent.

"So," Brice says.

Seto pulls his shoulders in, looks down, and walks faster. Brice nods and looks down, too.

Payten and I exchange a glance, and I shrug helplessly.

Danielle tugs frantically at Brice's shirt. "Talk to him!" she hisses, looking up at Seto's hunched-in form ahead of us.

"How?" Brice asks sadly.

I sigh along with him and then slow down a little when I spot something in the near distance. "Payten," I whisper, nudging their shoulder with my own.

They lock onto the building. It's small, and looks a little like it could have been an old farmhouse. "It's empty," Payten confirms after casting a tiny spell.

"Pit-stop?" I ask.

"Pit-stop," they confirm.

With absolutely zero second-thoughts, Payten pinches their thumb and index finger onto Brice's ear and begins dragging him toward the farmhouse. Meanwhile, I grab Seto's sweater-pawed hand and force him in the same direction. Danielle shrugs, likely thinking that anything is better than that silence we were dealing with earlier.

"We have to save the kids," Seto protests quietly, helplessly.

"We also have to save you two," I point out, and I'm not sure Seto entirely understands, but I keep walking anyways. Danielle pushes open the door once we reach the house, and we rush into the semi-warm room. Rather conveniently, there's a tiny kitchen further in, complete with a table and two wooden chairs.

"All right, sit down," Payten commands, and I put my hands on my hips and glare at the two boys until they comply. "You guys need to talk this out before something bad happens and you can't anymore. You have to be able to work together if we want to save Lizza and the others."

"So…?" Seto asks quietly, sitting down as carefully as possible in his chair.

"So talk it out," Danielle huffs.

Brice leans back in his seat and crosses his arms.

Seto sighs. "Confession time," he concedes. He brings one hand out of the sleeve of his sorcerer's robe and begins pulling at loose threads on the other sleeve.

"My thoughts exactly," Brice deadpans, resting his chin on his hand.

"Well," Seto begins, dropping the sleeve and tapping his fingers against his thigh nervously. He clears his throat and forces himself to speak up. "Do you recall the period of crash-torture immediately before you first met Miss May?"

"Duh," Brice answers, which is probably not helping Seto's confidence.

"Crashes take time off the end of one's life. You know this?"

"Uh-huh," Brice answers again, clearly losing his patience (and also not getting the point).

"Those crashes took a good bit of time off the end of my life," Seto explains, watching Brice carefully.

"Wait- Wait, you're dying cuzza that?" Brice asks incredulously as he lifts his head off his hands. "What the crap?"

"It is certainly unfortunate," Seto says unsurely, as though he's walking on egg shells trying to please his ex. "But it is because of this that I will be leaving your presence in six days in order to die without repercussions on you or the kids or Your City."

"First of all," Brice huffs, putting his hand on his hip, "it's a little bit more than unfortunate! Second: What the heck, Seto!? You can't just leave us! You can't just leave me!"

"Had my magic not failed me back at that Dark Mage base, I very well could have." Seto smiles sadly. "And I apologize that I could not keep up appearances."

"You seem so much more… formal lately," Brice grumbles, looking down, and Seto seems to remember something.

"Sorry," he corrects himself, perfectly American. He gives us all his best smile. It still isn't very convincing.

"What the crap?" Brice practically whispers, looking up at Seto in confusion.

"Ah," Seto begins before clearing his throat, and I can tell he's working very hard not to let an ounce of British through. "I was simply- just apologi- saying sorry." He clears his throat a second time, wincing at himself. "I was just saying sorry."

"Another one of your dumb quirks," Brice grumbles, and Seto takes on an incredibly hurt expression that he rushes to hide before Brice can see.

"Feel free to utilize- ah, use the next several- ten or so seconds to let out your anger," Seto stammers, looking up and down frequently like he's trying desperately to make eye contact but he's too nervous to keep it up.

"Fine," Brice spits. "You suck, Seto. You've been lying to me, faking for - how long now? At least a month! I can't believe you! You're so- so- ugh!" Brice groans and slams his head down on the table, and Seto's eyebrows shoot up in concern.

"Calm down," Payten demands, and Brice huffs and crosses his arms as he looks up.

"I am sorry. I am," Seto pleads, leaning forward slightly.

Brice sighs. "You're not who you used to be," he says quietly.

"Neither-" Seto stops, changing his long "I" sound to a long "E" instead. "Neither are you."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Brice asks, eyes furrowed in irritation. Seto flinches slightly before answering.

"The- The accent?"

"Yes, the accent!" Brice huffs.

"It's annoying," Seto nearly whispers, and Brice stills. After a few uncomfortably silent moments during which Danielle awkwardly scratches her arm and I fight the urge to hum, Seto speaks up again. "I'm sorry. Have I upset you?"

Brice blinks a few times as tears gather in his eyes, and Seto's eyes go wide.

"Yikes. Ah- I'm sorry. I understand if you wish not to speak with me- I'm sorry, I've done it again, ah… I get it if you don't want to talk to me anymore after this whole- ordeal. I promise not to inconvenience you for longer than six or seven days. But I would like to find Lizza and the other missing citizens of Your City before I… leave."

Brice wipes his eyes with his sleeve, and Seto winces again.

"I'm sorry," he repeats for the millionth time, pushing his chair outward as he stands up. "I'll respect your space and your decision not to interact with me. But, just- May I ask just one question? For closure's sake." Brice doesn't audibly reply, so Seto nervously forges on. "I- A little birdy told me, and I was just wondering- Ah, if you- Do you really-" Seto lets out a long breath and then smiles sadly, and a bit of his British accent breaks through as his voice cracks. "How long have you hated me..?"

Brice's jaw drops half-way to the floor, and his eyebrows fly up and disappear into his hairline. For a moment, he's silent, but then he finally opens his mouth.

And before he can say a single word, the door to the farmhouse bursts open. Five Dark Mages shove their way in and make a beeline for Seto, who growls and has them all unconscious in five seconds flat. But then, with the timing of a Valentine's Day breakup, Seto yelps and falls to the floor, digging his nails into the palm of his hand as another crash falls into place.

More Mages stream into the room, but this time Seto can't take care of them. Brice and Payten jump to their feet and begin casting, and Danielle kicks a Mage in the shin before making him implode, but there are too many Mages, too little room. I pick up Seto's chair and ram it into a Mage's head, hoping for a miracle domino effect. But of course we're not that lucky - the one Mage falls over, clutching his head, but the rest of the Mages continue on. We're about to be overpowered.

One Dark Mage crouches down in front of Seto, using a dark pink magic to wrap our sorcerer in a confined bubble, and Brice yells out furiously when the terrible Mage picks up our practically defenseless Seto. Of course, Seto tries to struggle, but in the state he's in? It doesn't do much.

"Let him go!" Brice screams, sending bolts of magic left and right, but he doesn't make any long-ranged attempts on the Mage holding Seto. Neither do the rest of us; we're too afraid of hurting our friend.

One particularly obnoxious Mage laughs as he overpowers Brice and pushes him to the ground, and I struggle to get to him, but the room is too crowded. "You always have been a weakling, haven't you?" the Mage sneers down at him.

"I usually have Seto," Brice manages to say. "We balance each other out."

"Well, you don't have him anymore. And now? You're going to die."

Payten sighs, seemingly realizing something I haven't yet. She looks up at the Mage pinning Brice and forces a knowing smirk. "Bye, Felicia."

"Sinite illos!" Seto shrieks, and the world around us flashes white.

It's quiet.

"W-What?" Brice asks squeakily, slowly sitting up and glancing down at the grass he was lying on. "We were inside."

"Past tense," Payten sighs.

"What?" I ask.

"No," Danielle whispers, glancing around frantically. There isn't a single building in sight. We're literally in the middle of nowhere.

"What happened!?" Brice asks, jumping to his feet and copying Danielle's motions.

"That moron threatened Brice," Payten explains. "Obviously, Seto was going to do something."

"Fantastic marks for the magical guard dog," I mutter, and Payten forces a laugh.

"No, now the Dark Mages have Seto!" Danielle yells in devastation, and I sit down in the grass and put my head in my hands.

"Yeah. The Dark Mages have Seto," Payten confirms, following my actions and then putting a comforting arm around me.

"No," Brice breathes, still standing, just staring off into the distance. "No, I- He-" He lets out a sob and then clamps his hand over his mouth as he slowly sinks to his knees. "He thinks I hate him," comes his muffled voice, and Danielle bursts into tears.

"Seven days left," I mutter.

"Not anymore," Payten sighs.

* * *

Danielle is the first to recover.

She jumps up from her position on the ground and she fist-pumps the air, and Brice looks up at her like 'How are you happy?' but she just grins.

"Your smiling is hurting my eyes," Brice chokes out, his head still buried between his knees.

"Well your eyes had better get used to it, because no one's ever saved anyone by sitting around and crying!"

"That kid went from distraught to determined in less than a second," Payten mutters, crossing their arms. "But, yeah. That is what I've been saying since we first got here."

"How we can possibly save him? We have no idea where he is," Brice moans, pulling angrily at his hair. "And even if we could find him - he's got, like, six days left! We can't do anything about that!"

"The plan was to find Miss May," I butt in. "We thought she might know how to help… somehow."

"And how did you plan to find her?" Brice spits, glaring up at me.

I twirl my hair and look down at my feet.

"Oi, be civil," Payten huffs, rolling their eyes. "At least our plan involved more than crying in the middle of nowhere."

"Bloody tea crumpets," Danielle whispers. "Do you hear that?"

"What," Brice grumbles.

"It's the sound of preemptive victory!"

"How does she know that word?" Payten mumbles.

"No, it's not," Brice says, his words completely monotone. He grits his teeth. "Right now, 'victory' is just a happy thought. You can't beat death."

"Your optimism inspires me," Payten deadpans, rolling their eyes again. "Stop moping and stand up."

"Why should I?" Brice asks huffily.

"Notch dang it, Brice, stand the Nether up before I have to pull you up myself," Payten growls, stomping their foot for emphasis. "You think Seto's just sitting in a cell, appreciating the way you're not giving a single crap about saving him?" They sneer down at him, and he furrows his eyebrows and looks up at them. "He has done so much for every single one of us. Doesn't he at least deserve to die knowing his boyfriend still fricking loved him?" They cross their arms. "No matter what, he definitely doesn't deserve to die thinking you hate him."

Brice clamps his mouth shut, but doesn't move.

With all the grace of a sassy, agender, vengeful ballerina, Payten crouches down in front of Brice and snarls, "I thought you loved him, Brice. I thought you cared. But here you are…

"Letting him die alone."

I half-expect him to jump up and sneer back at them, but Brice has never been the angry type. When he's like this, he operates on bitterness; not real anger. So, after taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, he looks up at Payten and smiles weakly.

"Sorry," he says. "We should… hurry."

Payten grins at him and then takes a proud step back as though inviting me and Danielle to take a look at the wonderful job they've done. "That's what I thought. But, for the record…" They laugh. "I seriously doubt he's sitting in a cell appreciating anything - he's probably just relaxing and sassing the guards to death."

"That… sounds like Seto," Brice laughs sadly. He nods to himself and stands up a little straighter. "Okay. Let's- yeah. We can save him!" He glances over at Danielle, who seems even more confident now that Brice is up and moving. "We can do this. I'm… sorry for being crappy. I was just, um, really angry with the choices I made. But I'm… you're right, Payten. I'm going to fix it now, with you guys."

"Dang straight," Payten says.

"Dang gay," Danielle whispers.

"So," I begin awkwardly. "Any idea… how?"

"Uh-" Brice winces. "I'm no good at planning."

Payten rolls their eyes and crosses their arms. "We'll go to Our City first. We lost Seto near there, and we were heading to check up on the city before now anyways. Then, as for finding Miss May - I'm sure Seto will know how to locate her. So, once we find him, we'll already be on the road to saving him."

"What if he doesn't want to be saved?" I ask. "I mean- he won't let us track down Miss May. He'll think it's a waste of time."

"Then Brice will bat his eyelashes and we'll save him anyway," Payten huffs. "Plan?"

I laugh. "Plan," I agree, shrugging slightly, and then we're on the road.

* * *

"Hi," I squeak as we freeze on the stairs.

"It's just you," Ty breathes out in relief, and everyone on this side of the room lowers their guard.

"Careful, you almost shot us!" Payten snorts, strolling down into Seto's 'basement.' "Is everyone down here?"

"Absolutely everyone," Jason confirms, pointing behind himself at at the huge group of people on the other side of the forest-basement. "Did you find the kids?" He squints at our too-small group. "Where's Seto? We need to talk to him."

"Heh," I mumble.

"Um," says Danielle.

"About that," Brice chokes out.

"Dear Notch," Ty sighs, looking down. "Fine. Spill."

"No thanks," Payten replies, forcing a laugh. "Sorry, we're short on time." They push Brice forward and then turn to whisper to me. "What are we supposed to do!?" they ask, demeanor cracking for a mere second before they stand up a little straighter and offer up a sheepish smile.

"So… How about this weather," Brice says awkwardly, swaying back and forth.

"It's… nice? Not that we can see it," Jason answers, squinting suspiciously.

"Yup," Brice says, visibly swallowing.

"I mean, how much can we really do?" I whisper back to Payten. "They're all down here - they're as protected as they're gonna get without Seto's help, I think."

"Brice!" shouts a deep voice, and Payten and I turn to look as Michael jogs toward his brother. He encases the younger man in a strong hug and then steps back to look at him. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Um, ditto!" Brice laughs.

"'Ditto?' Really?" Payten sighs, slamming their hand against their forehead.

Brice makes a point of ignoring them. "Michael, um- do you know a lot about Dark magic crashes?"

Michael nods, his expression turning solemn. "I had to - for you."

Brice coughs, likely out of embarrassment, before forging on. "Uh- right. Well, have you ever heard of - um, of crashes actually shortening someone's life?"

"Brice," Michael says worriedly, furrowing his eyebrows, "are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Brice assures him while Jason and Ty look on suspiciously. "I was just wondering. Like, if someone were dying because of Dark magic, would there be a way to… reverse it?"

"I'm… sorry," Michael says slowly. "I've- I've never heard of such a thing." He straightens up. "After all, I was a Light Mage, not a-" he spits out the next words, "-Dark one."

"Oi!" Payten begins, but I pull them back and smile sheepishly at Michael.

"Um… Well, not- not all Dark mages are bad," Brice says nervously, which is at least better than what I'm sure Payten planned to say.

"Yes, they are," Michael says firmly, nodding his head, and Ty frowns disapprovingly. "Dark mages cannot be trusted. Even 'recovered' ones are just accidents waiting to happen - once a Dark mage, always a Dark mage."

"Seto used to be a Dark mage," Ty deadpans.

"Oh. Did he?" Michael asks. "Huh."

Brice crosses his arms defensively, but he doesn't say anything.

"Brice," Michael sighs, smiling softly. "I'm sorry if I upset you. But I'm just trying to protect you, you know that." He reaches out a hand to rest on Brice's shoulder, and Brice flinches. Michael doesn't seem to notice. "We've gotten so much closer in the past three years, and now… I can't lose you."

Brice looks down at his feet.

"Oh," Michael says, eyebrows rising in realization. "Oh! Brice, you know I didn't mean you, right? When I was talking about Dark mages, I never meant you."

Brice's eyes widen a little, and he opens his mouth to speak.

Michael cuts him off, seemingly not realizing his brother was trying to talk. "We all know you were a Dark mage when you were younger," Michael says, and Jason's eyes widen while Ty crosses his arms. "We all know you couldn't cast Light magic for your life," he laughs. Good-naturedly..? He rests his free hand on Brice's free shoulder. "But we accept that about you, brother. We know you went through a lot, and you did a lot of bad things. And you'll never be as good as you could've been, and you'll probably make a lot more mistakes because of your past! But that's okay. We love you anyways." Michael grins. "And I, as your brother, will always be there for you."

"Thanks," Brice says, and he actually sounds like he didn't notice anything wrong with his brother's giant speech. "It means a lot, Michael." He leans forward and wraps his arms tightly around his brother, who just smiles kindly and hugs him back. Meanwhile, Payten and I glance at each other out of the corners of our eyes and wonder what the Nether just happened.

"Yes," Ty says slowly. "That was a very… moving speech."

"You used to be a Dark mage?" Jason whispers to Brice, whose neck and ears turn bright red.

"I mean… K-Kind of?" Brice tries, wincing slightly.

"But we love him anyways," Michael says sternly, almost as though he's scolding Jason.

"Yeah," Ty says, dropping his arms back to his sides. "We do."

"Right. Got it," Jason says, but he's squinting like he's really confused.

Michael smiles at us. "Well, Brice. Now that you're home, maybe you'd like to take a walk with me? You can unwind after your journey."

"We haven't got the kids," Payten says monotonously.

"They haven't got Seto, either," Ty adds.

"Oh. Seto." Michael crosses his arms. "Where is he?"

"We're working on that," Brice says. He's finally starting to look a little fed up. "He's my boyfriend, you know."

"Of course! I know you like him. I'm just worried about you is all."

Brice crosses his arms.

Awkwardly, Jason clears his throat.

"Well," Ty says. "I think they need to be on their way now to keep looking for the kids. Michael, can you watch over the people while Jason and I see this group off?"

"It would be my pleasure," Michael says, and Brice looks very uncomfortable to be hearing what's basically Seto's catch phrase coming from Michael's mouth. "Good luck to you all. Be careful, Brice. And remember, if you don't find the kids, or Seto…" He sighs. "Life will go on. I just don't want you to be too torn up about it if you don't find them." Michael smiles sadly and waves goodbye before heading off toward the people of Our City.

"What the Nether was that," Ty whispers harshly as soon as Michael is out of earshot.

"What was what?" Brice asks.

"That!" I huff.

"Please tell me you noticed something wrong with that," Payten pleads, staring at Brice.

"With what?" Brice asks, huffing in exasperation.

"That!" Danielle groans, echoing me.

"Seriously, though," Jason starts. "You used to be a Dark mage? When? Was it while you were a Light Mage!?"

"Jason, we were there," Ty huffs, and Jason 'oh's in remembrance. "And I'm sorry for that, Brice. We didn't know you back then, and we were very close-minded."

"Could've been worse," Brice admits, shrugging slightly. "At least the rehab program was, um… efficient."

"Blah blah blah, let's get back to Michael," Danielle says. "Does he always talk to you like that?"

"We've been living in the same city as him for three years, you'd think we'd have noticed this before," I mutter.

"Okay, talk to me like what!?" Brice asks, officially fed up as he throws his hands into the air.

"Like… all passive-aggressively," Danielle clarifies, shrugging her shoulders.

"Good word," Payten comments.

"Um… I don't know." Brice smiles helplessly. "I'm sorry, I don't really know what you're talking about. Michael was really nice back there. He always is."

"If you were as consistently sarcastic as Seto, I would have agreed with that statement a lot more," Payten says, rolling their eyes.

"Seto," Brice breathes. "We have to go."

"Yes, you do," Ty agrees. "I don't know exactly why, but…" He shakes his head. "Anyways. Michael wasn't lying about the crash thing, unfortunately. As Light Mages, most of us never dealt with crashes at all. I wouldn't know how to undo a crash, for sure."

"Well, thanks anyway," I sigh, and Ty offers up a comforting smile.

"Good luck," he says.

"Oh my Jeb, you're the Head Mage's little brother!" Jason realizes, and Ty slams the palm of his hand against his forehead before waving to us and pushing Jason back toward Our City's people.

"Well, that was an adventure in and of itself," Payten grumbles as they lead us back up the stairs.

"Time to find Seto?" Brice asks eagerly.

"I guess so," I reply, shrugging unsurely.

"You don't think anyone could ever replace Seto, right?" Danielle asks, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Wha- Of course not! There's only one Seto," Brice huffs, crossing his arms as we pause at the city limits. God bless Swiftness enchantments. "Why?"

"I don't know," Danielle says, sounding confused as she looks down at her feet.

"Who do you love more - Seto, or your brother?" Payten asks.

"What kind of question is that?" Brice asks. Payten doesn't verbally reply, just shrugs and starts in the direction we think the farmhouse might be.

We walk/run (Swiftness spell) in silence for a while, until finally Brice defensively speaks up. "I mean, he's my brother," Brice whines, glancing around us.

I shrug.

Danielle shrugs.

Payten shrugs.

Brice sighs.

After a long silence, the farmhouse finally edges into view. Right before we can enter, however, Brice mumbles, "Blood is thicker than water."

Danielle looks personally offended by this comment. Payten holds up a finger as Seto often does, looking as though they're preparing to correct something-

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," Brice clarifies, clearing his throat and looking down awkwardly afterward. "Uh, Seto is… I really love him. Like, a lot."

"First of all, thank Jeb I didn't have to punch you just then," Payten says, their voice transitioning into a whisper as they gently ease open the door to the farmhouse. It appears to be empty, so Payten strides on in with the rest of us not far behind. "Second: I'm surprised you knew the entirety of that quote."

"Been on Tumblr, I see," I say mischievously, and Brice blushes.

"Well, not the weird side-"

Payten scoffs, and I laugh out my response. "It's all the weird side, Brice."

He splutters, and we choose to ignore him in favor of examining the farmhouse. "What should we be looking for?" Danielle asks.

"Uh, any sign of where they might have gone, I guess." I bite my lip and glance around. "So maybe this was a shortsighted plan."

"They probably teleported. We have no way of knowing where they went," Payten groans, voicing my own concerns.

"They have to have left some kind of clue," Danielle insists, peeking under the chair Seto sat in.

"Maybe they left a magical footprint?" Brice suggests, wincing slightly as though expecting us to immediately shut down the idea.

"Ooh, maybe!" Danielle agrees excitedly. "Seto taught us about that last year! It's like a digital footprint, but- but with magic! When people use magic, they leave behind little wisps of it, and we can use spells to 'read' the wisps!"

"That- That's perfect!" I laugh. "Well? Cast the spell!"

"On it," Payten replies, holding up a hand and signing something I don't understand.

Yet another reminder that I'll never be on their level. I'm just… a magic-less human.

Off-topic.

"Jenny?" Danielle asks quietly, peering up at me as she tugs on my pony tail to get my attention. Cruel, but effective.

"Sorry," I reply, barely managing not to snap at her. Now is not the time. "Um, did you- did you find anything?"

My mini freak out is not nearly as important as Seto's physical health at the moment, and Danielle seems to realize this. So, albeit rather reluctantly, she turns to face Payten for the verdict. "Seto's purple magic is scattered all over the place, probably from the spell that sent us away."

"Maybe he put up a fight, too," Danielle suggests, eyes wide with worry.

"Uh," Payten says. "Maybe. There's my magic, and Danielle's, and Brice's." They grind their teeth a little as they look around. "There are a lot of colors here."

"Can you tell what spells were cast?" I ask stupidly. I know nothing about this.

"No, but-" Payten glances up at me and smiles. "Good suggestion! There were just too many mages in this room. I can focus in on one at a time, but that would take way too long and I'd probably need one of you to take over half-way through."

"Um, maybe just check near where Seto was?" Brice asks, moving closer to look around on his own. "Huh."

"Yeah, it's- it's a mess," Payten says, looking up at Danielle. "Maybe Seto was able to put up a fight."

"Of course he was!" Brice says, sounding a little relieved. "He's Seto. He's literally the best."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate the praise," Payten chuckles, "especially from you. But Seto isn't the best, not the way he is now."

Brice winces.

I squint, looking more at my memory than anything else. "Wait. The mage who trapped Seto - his magic was pink, right?"

"Jenny, babe," Payten laughs, and I blush. "That's fantastic!"

"I found his magic!" Brice shouts excitedly, crouching down near where Seto was captured. "There are a few wisps here. Um, let's see… I think this is it! It's a teleportation spell, and it's dark pink magic!"

"See!? He's gonna be just fine!" Danielle laughs, jumping gleefully around Brice. "Can you teleport us to Seto?"

"Close enough!" Brice answers, grinning widely. "Everyone hold hands; we're gonna find Seto!"


	9. Eight: Decidedly Not-Dodie

boop :)

 **Scapegoat**

 **Eight: Decidedly Not-Dodie**

"I mean, what did you expect?" I ask, looking around at the completely trashed jail cell we teleported into.

"Not this," says Brice, wide-eyed as he takes in the shattered concrete floor and crater-ridden walls.

"Not this," echoes Danielle, seeing the blood spattered all over the cell.

"… Something pretty similar to this," Payten admits, staring at the unconscious guard propped up teasingly in the back of the ruined cell. The guard's hand is resting against his forehead, like a damsel in distress. "Fantastic," Payten mutters, and I try not to laugh as I speak.

"Well, if the other Mages haven't moved this guy to an infirmary or something yet, then Seto must have escaped not too long ago," I say, moving away from the unconscious guard just in case.

Payten narrows their eyes. "Oh, I don't think he escaped," they argue as they walk closer to the cell door. Their voice immediately drops to a whisper when they peek out into the hall. "There aren't any other unconscious guards anywhere, and if the other Dark Mages found any unconscious guards out there, then they would have found the guard in here, too."

"So, what? You think this Mage was the only casualty?" I ask.

"I think Seto grabbed this guy through the bars, teleported him the few feet into his cell, and knocked him out to screw with the other guards."

"Then when the other guards saw him, he made this mess," I finish in a whisper, nodding in agreement.

"Why are we whispering?" Brice whispers.

"There are guards way down at the end of this hall. I'm surprised they haven't heard us yet," Payten explains, peeking through the bent cell bars again.

"Let's make sure they don't hear us ever," I suggest, nervously twirling the end of my ponytail.

"Easier said than done," Payten mutters.

The room goes quiet for a moment. In such silence, I can actually hear the faint pattering of the guards' feet way down the hall. "Uh, quick question," Brice laughs nervously. "Where's Danielle?"

My back stiffens, and I jump towards the door with wide eyes. "Where did she go!?" I ask frantically, whipping my hair around as I look towards both ends of the hall. It's long and lined with tiny cells, but, from what I can see, Danielle isn't exploring a single one of them.

"She teleported with us, right?" Brice asks hesitantly.

"Yeah, she did," Payten confirms, nodding and biting their lip. The expression disappears when they catch sight of my panicked face. "Shh, babe," Payten coos, pulling me into their arms as I try to force myself to breathe properly. "We'll find her, I promise. She can't have gone far."

"Oh no," Brice breathes.

I follow his gaze out the cell door, down the hall, and a tad upwards - and there's Danielle, balancing on top of the unusually thick door frames. She's jumping from frame to frame, slowly making her way towards the guards at the end of the hall. How she got out there unnoticed is beyond me; how she'll get back here unnoticed is a riddle I have no clue how to solve.

"We could just distract them," Brice offers. "Jump out into the hall and get their attention so they don't notice Danielle."

"And then what?" Payten asks. "No. Just wait."

We all peer anxiously out the bars of the cells, and I find myself biting my nails as Danielle almost falls off one of the door frames. Against all odds, however, she makes it all the way to the end of the hall without falling. And now she's just above the guards.

With a spark of bright magic, the guards fall to the floor, and Danielle jumps down on top of their limp bodies and rummages around a bit before standing up and grinning victoriously - I can see her smile all the way from here. Then she runs silently over to us and holds up her right hand, dangling a set of keys right in our faces.

"Ta-da," she sings proudly, dropping the keys in my hand.

"Oh my Jeb," I breathe, breaking away from Payten to wrap my arms around Danielle. "Dani! Don't ever do that again, or I'll- I'll-" I hug her more tightly, sniffling into her long brown hair. "I can't lose my little sister."

"Oh," Danielle says, frowning a little. "I'm sorry, I- I didn't realize how scary that would look to you. I just thought I could help."

"You did help!" I assure her, pulling back with a hand on each of her shoulders. "You were great, Danielle. I was just worried."

"Well, you didn't need to be," Danielle says, grinning proudly. Her smiles changes to something softer. "But I'll be more careful, I promise."

"Thank you, Danielle. You know I love you, right?"

"And I love you, too," she huffs, rolling her eyes.

I laugh and step back, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "Well. Uh. That's over."

Payten just shakes their head, but they're smiling. "Yeah. So, now that we've got keys to hopefully open any door we come across, and the closest guards are out of commission…"

"Where would Seto have been moved to?" Brice asks, stepping outside the cell with Payten. "This cell looks… pretty tough."

"Not tough enough," Danielle giggles, glancing at the crumbly floor.

"So there must be a place that's even more secure," Payten finishes. "We just have to find it."

"I mean…" I shrug. "How hard can it be?"

"Really hard," Brice groans. "This is really hard."

Payten shushes him violently and then rolls their eyes as they dart to the next bit of cover. "We've been almost all over the prison, we must be close," they whisper, looking frustrated.

"Well, don't jinx it!" I huff, grabbing Danielle's hand and running to stand next to Payten and Brice. We all press up close against the wall as a guard strolls by, and I find myself holding my breath until she's far, far away.

"This way," Payten decides, taking off down the hallway from which the guard came. The rest of us follow behind them, not wanting to be separated, and, not three seconds later, we find ourselves slipping through a metal door and into an odd room with nothing but a desk, a grayed out window, and a couple of chairs. There are some clipboards lying helter-skelter across the boring gray desk along with a small speaker and a small microphone, and there's a standard white light switch next to the window. "Not what I was hoping for," Payten groans.

"Well, I mean, maybe there's something on these clipboards that'll help us," I suggest, walking over to the desk.

"We need light to read," Danielle huffs, flipping the light switch, and the speaker crackles to life while a bright white light shines over the window and the window reveals a person on the other side, standing in a white room. "Uh. My bad."

"Have you just up and left?" comes Seto's voice through the speaker, and Seto rolls his eyes, crosses his arms, and breathes out some Latin word that sends a purple orb slamming against the window. The window doesn't budge, and Seto seethes as he turns around to slam his fists against the wall.

"Danielle, you're a genius," Payten chuckles, and Brice frantically presses buttons on the speaker and microphone.

"Seto? Seto, can you hear us?" He huffs and plops down in one of the chairs as he continues to mess with the microphone. "Guys, do you think he can see us?"

"No," I reply, shaking my head. "He acted like he thought he was still talking to a guard or something."

"Come on, there's gotta be a button to make this thing work," Brice groans, pressing one last button. Suddenly, an echo of static blares from the speakers, and Brice jumps back in alarm, letting go of the button. "Yes!" he cheers afterwards, a smile growing on his face as he leans forward to press it again.

"Stop!" Payten barks, pulling Brice back, and that's when we look back up at the window to see ten guards streaming into Seto's room. "Stop. We can't let them know we're here."

Brice fidgets, but seems to understand, so Payten lets out a long breath and steps away from him.

"Seto, Dark Sorcerer," one of the guards says in a professional tone. "It is time."

"Sorry, could you be a little less specific? You're overwhelming me with all this information," Seto snarks, rolling his eyes again.

Still, he backs up against the wall.

"The more cooperative you are, the less pain you will feel," says the same guard as she holds out a pair of magic-reducing handcuffs. They glow green, the color of what must be her magic, and Seto seems to want no part of them.

"I think I can handle a little bit of pain."

Brice snaps his fingers nervously, his eyes glued to Seto. "Payten, please. We have to do something, they're going to move him again!"

"Then we'll follow them," Payten replies, unmoving.

"So be it," says the guard, and Seto looks like he's about to mock her for it. But then she strides forward and stares stupidly hard at him, and, before he can react, he's got flames licking up his robe and singing his fluffy hair.

Seto breathes, and the fires are gone. "Pal," Seto says, his voice low, and Brice shudders. Seto grins. "I think I'm hot enough on my own, don't you think?"

"Oh, please-" the guard begins, but then she's on fire, and Seto is hiding his laughter between a sweaterpawed-hand.

"There. That will certainly help you find a date," Seto says, trying and failing to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"She isn't single," growls a woman in the back of the group, and then Seto is on his knees, crying out in pain as his body shakes with the woman's magic.

The main guard lets out a pleased sort of breath; and, having put herself out, she strolls forward and clicks the handcuffs around Seto's wrists. "Good," she says, smirking as she looks down at him. He looks pitiful, shuddering still with the pain, hugging his arms around himself and hanging his head. She crouches down in front of him, reveling in his pain. "We both know you won't be here much longer anyways," she says quietly, and the speaker barely picks it up.

Seto grits his teeth and forces himself to stand up, and the guards make a circle around him and then push him out of the room.

"Oh my Jeb," Brice panics. "Oh my Jeb! We have to follow him, how do we get to that room!?"

"Setooo," Danielle groans, pressing her forehead up against the window. "What are we going to do?"

"Teleport," I say, throwing my hands up. "You guys are actual mages! You can see where we need to be, right there! Just teleport!"

There's silence.

"Oh my Jeb," Brice whispers, and then Payten signs something and then we're all standing in Seto's room.

"Okay. Be sneaky," Payten says, trying to stay serious. I huff and follow after them as they shoot off down the hallway after Seto and his group. They're moving fairly slowly, making sure to keep Seto in the middle of the swarm, but we can still see Seto's fragile frame between guards. He's got his hands cuffed awkwardly in front of him now, and his head is still hanging low.

"He looks so defeated," Brice whispers.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Seto's voice suddenly pipes up as a guard yells angrily at him. "Did I step on your shoelace? Yes, so sorry."

"More or less," Payten half-agrees, and I try to keep from laughing as we continue after Seto and the guards.

Suddenly, Seto yelps, and the group slows tremendously. Brice, Dani, Payten, and I grind to a halt. "Oh, sorry," says a guard, crossing his arms. "Did I step on your heel? So, so sorry."

"Oh, sorry," echoes another guard, hitting Seto dead-on with a blast of magic. Seto cries out and curls in on himself, falling to his knees on the hard concrete and whimpering helplessly as the guard kicks him hard in the stomach. The steel tips of her boots make me nauseous. "Did I hurt you? Jeb, I'm so fricking sorry!"

Brice bites his lip, and I notice tears gathering in his eyes. "I'll fricking kill them," he mumbles weakly. "Every single one of them."

Meanwhile, the Mages are shoving Seto forward, forcing him to move again. "You deserve everything that's coming to you," says the second female guard from earlier. They push him forward again, and then they quickly disappear behind a large metal door.

Brice is up and tugging at the door in less than five seconds, but it's firmly locked. "Teleport?" I ask.

"Magic barrier," Payten answers, shaking their head. "We can't teleport inside."

"Well- Well-" I pull at my ponytail, unable to think of a single solution, and Danielle groans and slams her head against the door.

"Attention!" blares a crackly speaker situated right above our heads at the top of the door. Danielle scrambles away from the loud noise. "Attention, Mages! Any Mage with A-One Status may report to Entertainment Sector One for the Crash Assembly!"

"Score," Payten whispers. "Come on, we have to hide." They pull us all away from the door and around a corner where we then press against the wall and pray no one comes from our direction.

"Please, Maria!" comes the first voice, and it sounds vaguely familiar. Payten's eyes narrow. "Come on, this isn't fair!"

"Shut up, Dodie," an older woman - Maria, I guess - replies. "You know your place."

"I told you, it's a boy day! Jeb, Maria, can't you just- just-"

"Dodie," Maria growls. "Go back to your station. The assembly will start soon, and I need to get a good seat."

"No, it's not fair," Not-Dodie(?) groans as the two of them walk around a corner and into view. Payten's eyes darken, and Brice lets out a small sigh of recognition.

"The guard Payten liked," Danielle quietly realizes, and I squint at the two raven-haired Dark Mages.

"Dodie," Maria deadpans, shaking Not-Dodie off her shoulder.

"Maria!" Not-Dodie responds. He clasps his hands together and all but begs to follow Maria into the assembly. "Come on, I'm your brother! You can't just make me keep the crash in! I'm not bad enough to be allowed to ride it out, but not good enough to be allowed to crash into someone! I can't stay like this, Maria!"

Maria grits her teeth and shoves Not-Dodie's hands down. "Listen, Dodie. I worked hard to get to where I am today. The only reason you're not 'bad enough' to crash traditionally is because of Father's lasting influence on the Council and my good recommendations of you. But you've gone too far this time, and I- I will not let our father's remembrance be tarnished just because you're completely inept at your job. Our family is destined for greatness, Dodie, and if you're not willing to put in the effort to be great - if you are willing to throw it all away just for your, your stupid special snowflake act - then you're not worthy to be a part of this family."

"The name's 'Dale,'" Not-Dodie whispers, sinking down against the wall as his sister yanks away from him and stomps through the huge metal door.

Payten doesn't say anything as more Dark Mages stream past Dale and through the metal door, but Brice follows their previous train of thought anyways, mimicking the Mages' hooded black robes and casting the illusion of the robe on each of us. "We're… clear to go through," says Brice.

"Give me a minute," Payten whispers determinedly, signing something and then going invisible. Brice leads the rest of us out into the stream of Dark Mages, but he stops us before we can go through the door.

I look back at Dale just in time to see him gasping as a string of words appears on his arm in magical silver lettering. "I never did get your number, but now you've got mine. Nice to finally know your names, Dale. -They/Them" it reads, alongside Payten's phone number.

Payten smoothly reappears beside Danielle, Brice, and me. They smile slightly, flipping up their illusion of a hood, before giving Dale a short, two-finger wave.

Dale opens his mouth in shock like he's about to yell out, but then his eyes flick over to the metal door behind us, and he clamps his mouth shut tight and nods back at Payten.

"That was risky," I whisper grumpily as we slip through the large metal door. "He could've given us away right then and there!"

"No," Brice says slowly, glancing over at Payten. "They did the right thing."

"He has your phone number," I groan, pulling my hood illusion down over my eyes.

"Yeah," Payten says, shrugging shamelessly. "He does." A smile grows on their face. "Babe. Don't tell me you're jealous."

I pull the hood even further over my face.

The 'Entertainment Sector' is circular and huge, with stadium-like stands looping around the outer rim. Most of the stands are already filled up, and there are still more Mages streaming in from a metal door across the room from ours. Nearer to that door is a large platform hidden mostly by a tall green curtain, and the part of the platform that we can see leads down five small stairs and continues out into the center of the stadium-thing.

The whole place feels like an arena of sorts, like a Roman coliseum except there's definitely no chance of Seto winning anything. Seto himself is on his knees in a tall cage in the middle of the middle, with a good old-fashioned rope around his hands and a gag through his mouth and no-doubt a freeze on the magic-handling part of his brain. He's completely helpless, and he's slouched like he's already given up.

"Seto," Brice whispers, his voice shaking with fear - not for himself, but for the man he is undoubtedly still in love with.

"We'll save him," Danielle says, keeping up her earlier determination.

"Will we?" Brice asks pitifully.

"We will," Payten says without a single waver in their voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" shrieks a voice, and Payten sighs and rolls their eyes. "Your leader has arrived… and, dearie me, who have we here?"

Brice's eyes go wide, and his jaw drops. "Is that..?"

"Miss May!" Danielle shouts excitedly, and I get a sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

"Seto, my dear old friend!" Miss May shouts as she slips out from behind the giant green curtain. "I was hoping you were the one my people had captured."

"She cut her hair," is all Brice can manage to say.

"Come on, we gotta get closer!" Danielle demands, grabbing my hand and Brice's and dragging us along as she pushes past irritated Dark Mages to walk between the stands towards Miss May's platform. Payten snorts and follows behind us and refuses to apologize to anyone we annoy.

"It has been quite a while, hasn't it?" Miss May asks, her pink high heels clicking on the flooring as she steps towards the edge of the platform and begins to slowly descend down the stairs to Seto's cage.

Seto heaves out a great breath and then looks up at Miss May and shrugs.

"Aw. Has the little rebel birdy's wings finally been clipped?" Miss May coos patronizingly, crouching down in front of Seto after she unlocks the door to the cage. Her pleated pink skirt flies out for a moment as she lowers herself, but not a single one of the Mages in the crowd snickers (perhaps because of the intimidating hand she has held in the air). Brice pauses, won't let Danielle drag us any farther as his eyes are glued onto Seto.

Seto raises one signature eyebrow, and the gag in his mouth crinkles in a way that lets me and my friends know he's smiling that crap-eating grin of his.

"Cocky even now," Miss May hums, and then, with hardly a warning, she lunges forward and backhands him right across the cheek. Brice gasps, and his hands fly to cover his mouth. A few Dark Mages look over at us judgmentally.

Seto breathes in deeply, glances down at his gag and his bindings, and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Fantastic," Payten mutters appreciatively.

Before Brice can so much as call out his name, Miss May backhands Seto again, this time so hard that he falls over. Brice lets out a string of words mostly consisting of "Seto," "no," and "please," and Danielle starts breathing a little too heavily.

"She won't help us," Danielle says, her voice just a little too hopelessly high-pitched.

"Worthless addict!" May barks, kicking her sharp-heeled shoe right into Seto's stomach. Brice whimpers, and we all freeze in place as we watch Seto, breathing heavily with his forehead pressed against the floor of the cage while most of his weight is supported on his knees, ankles, and toes. "Well! Not completely worthless, anyways. You'll make a fine scapegoat for the six years' worth of crashes I've been saving up. Just for you, dearie! Oh, but don't you worry, that's not all! After I go, the entire stadium is waiting for a turn…"

"No," I say quietly. Payten catches my attention and points toward the platform, signaling that we need to hurry the crap up if we want to stop her from pouring all those crashes into Seto. I grab Danielle's hand, she absent-mindedly grabs Brice's, and I lead us all after Payten.

"What do you say to that, hmm, Seto, dear?" May asks, putting a single finger under his chin and forcing him to look up at her again. "You toppled the entire Dark Mage army for no reason other than to get a kick out of it."

"He did it for me," Brice whispers.

"You tore all those nice City people away from their homes for no reason other than your selfish ambitions," May snarls.

"He did it for us," Payten and I mutter in unison.

"You threw away all your potential and became a Light magic teacher for no reason other than to make a fool of all us Dark Mages without the power you had!"

"He did it for me," Danielle cries out. Payten slams their hand over Danielle's mouth, and I thank Notch that no one heard her outburst over the confident roaring of the crowd.

"I think you deserve to be my scapegoat," Miss May says quietly, scarily. "I think you deserve all the pain you're about to feel. Don't you?"

Slowly, slowly, Seto nods.

"Nonononono," Brice mumbles, frantically shaking his head. He pushes Danielle, Payten, and me aside and begins running towards the platform, brutally shoving past any Mage in his way. Payten and I exchange a glance and sprint after him, and Danielle gasps and trails behind.

"I hope it hurts like hell," May hisses in Seto's ear, and I can only hear it because my friends and I are half-way down the stairs to Seto's cage.

The crowd goes up in a wild roar, screaming at May to stand up, to turn around, to notice us intruders, to kill us so she can get on with the show. May stands up, turns around, notices us intruders, and smirks like she's won something better than mere victory as she places her hand down on Seto's shoulder.

Seto screams so loud we can hear it past the muffle of his gag, and Brice looks like he's in physical pain because of it. "Stop!" Brice shouts desperately, sprinting to the cage, but Miss May's smirk only grows as she waves her free hand about and the cage door slams shut. Brice yells out angrily and tugs on the door as hard as he can, but it won't budge, and none of the magic spells he and Payten are doing seem to be working, either. Meanwhile, Dark Mages are filing threateningly out of the stands and onto the platform, toward us. Seto's desperate, pain-filled screams become background noise as Danielle signs spell after spell to hold the shouting Mages back.

"Let us in! Let him go!" Brice demands, slamming his fists against the bars of the cage. "Please!" he begs as his hands latch onto the bars.

"Not until I've finished crashing," Miss May replies, and Seto's screams devolve into desperate sobbing that wracks his entire body.

"Please, please, please!" Brice sobs, shaking the bars as he sinks to his knees in front of the door. Payten, realizing their attempt on the door is futile, turns to help Danielle with the Mages, and I pull that unused bobby pin out of my hair and situate myself in front of the door's non-magic lock. "Please, take me instead! You can have me! You can crash into me for as long as you want! Please, please, stop hurting him!"

"But this is just so much fun!" Miss May giggles.

"Brice, help!" Danielle shouts with fear in her voice. "Payten and I can't hold them all off! They're gonna get us!"

"Seto, Seto, please," Brice cries as I fiddle with my bobby pin. Wait. Did I just hit something? I push on the door and curse myself. That's only one of the pins down.

"Brice, we're going to die if we don't figure something out!" Payten barks, not even twisting around to look at him as they fight.

"Brice, go help them!" I command while relishing in the second click of the lock. The door still doesn't open. "You can't help Seto right now!"

"No," Brice whimpers, staring right at Seto's pitiful, quivering form.

"Maybe I will take you, too, Brice," Miss May laughs. "I'll take all of you."

It all happens so fast. May raises her hand to cast a spell, presumably on Brice; Danielle cries out in pain, likely hit by one of the Dark Mages; Payten yells out for me to run while I can. And Seto…

Seto surges to his feet, throwing Miss May off of him and spitting out the gag all in one motion. He's weak but he's determined and he's really fricking angry. "Proteget eos!" he shouts with some kind of righteous fury, and Miss May practically roars in evil anger to match as she tackles him to the ground again. She places both hands firmly on his shoulders, and this time we can hear his screams clearly.

Danielle and Payten gasp, and I spin around to see every single Dark Mage collapsed on the floor in various unconscious positions. I turn back to the lock when I hear the click of my bobby pin making it big, and then I shove open the now non-magically unlocked door. Brice pushes past me, immediately signing something and shouting out a spell that sends Miss May flying back across the cage and into the bars. Her head lolls around a bit, proving that she's been knocked unconscious, and Brice slides down to Seto like he's sliding into home base.

"Seto," Brice breathes, supporting the sorcerer as he slumps against him. "Seto, please, talk to me."

"'M fine," Seto mumbles, and then he passes out.

"For the love of-" Payten grumbles, peering down at the two. "Ridiculous."

I'm about to laugh, but then terrible realization hits. "Payten!"

"What?" they ask curiously.

"Seto had approximately three days left," I remind them, my panic slowly growing.

"Yeah, so that's three more days to fix things," Payten replies, seeming confused.

"No, it's not," I say as my voice slowly rises in fear. "Miss May just dumped like six years of crashes into him!"

"That had to have been at least a year. And that's if he's the luckiest person in the world," Payten realizes. "Either way… He's out of time."

"No," Brice says, eyes wide with disbelief. "No, no, no!" He pulls Seto's head up gently so he can look at Seto's peacefully closed eyes. At least, no matter what, he's not in pain anymore.

I can't help but feel oddly detached.

"Check his pulse," I order, kneeling beside the two to test his wrist while Brice checks his neck. "Wait…"

"It feels normal," Brice mumbles, looking up at me in awe. "Is he… okay?"

"I don't know," I reply. "Logically, he should be… well, dead." Brice shivers and shakes his head.

"Don't say that word," he says, and I nod out of respect for the not-really-dead.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he can control all three types of magic?" Payten suggests.

"Maybe, but that isn't usually related to strength, is it?"

"Related or not, Seto is really strong with his magic," Danielle points out.

"Then… should we try to wake him up?" Brice asks.

"I… guess so?" I shrug.

"Well, here goes nothing," Brice says under his breath, and then he looks away and slaps Seto across the cheek.

Payten scoffs. "Harder than that, moron." They crouch down and slap Seto hard enough to make a sound.

Brice gasps in horror, but Seto's eyes do snap open. He blinks a few times, looking at each of us in turn before eventually settling on something in the distance.

"Seto!" Brice shouts gleefully, seemingly forgiving Payten as he pulls Seto into a tight hug.

… Seto doesn't exactly hug back.

"Um… Seto?" Brice asks tentatively, pulling back but keeping his hands on Seto's shoulders as he holds him at arm's length. "You okay?"

Seto's eyes focus in on Brice's when he speaks, but, other than that, he doesn't show any signs of acknowledgment.

"Yo, Seto," Payten tries, waving a hand in front of his face. His eyes follow their hand like a cat follows a red dot on the wall, but, other than that, he doesn't move a muscle.

"Seto, please say something to us," Danielle pleads, scooting closer to him and leaning in so her nose touches his. He still doesn't react. "Seto!"

"Okay. Something is wrong," I blurt.

"What in Minecraftia makes you think that?" Payten snorts.

"How do we fix him?" Danielle asks while Brice busies himself with picking up each of Seto's hands and watching sadly when they flop back down to hang by his sides.

"I don't know," Payten replies. "But we need to find out if he can walk, because I know these Mages will be waking up any second, and next time we won't have Seto to save us."

"He can walk," Brice assures us firmly.

"You don't know that," Payten tells him.

"I do know that!" Brice argues. He's quiet for a moment, and then: "We aren't leaving him behind."

"Well, of course we're not!" I splutter, horrified that he would even think such a thing. "He's Seto!"

"But we do need to know if he can walk," Payten says, "so we can take turns carrying him or something."

Brice stands up and tugs Seto to his feet, and Seto stands obediently. "Uh… well, he seems like he's fine in this department," Brice shrugs, grabbing Seto's arm and pulling him forward a little. "Yeah. He can walk."

"Where do we even walk to!?" I ask frantically.

"Follow me," says the same familiar voice from earlier, and we turn around to see Dale standing further back on the platform, smirking vengefully. "I told them I should've been in here."

"Um?" I squeak.

Dale laughs. "It's their loss, isn't it? Come on, we have to get you guys out of here."

"Your sister?" Payten asks, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Can go screw herself. I won't crawl back to her again, begging for a 'second chance,' setting aside who I am in favor of who she wants me to be." Dale breathes in slowly. "Go big or go home, am I right? I was never a good guard anyway."

Payten's grin quickly grows, and they nod in acceptance. "Then we're outta here."


	10. Nine: Purple (and) Rain

_Man, this book is so fun to write. I mean, it takes me ages (mostly because I write out of order), but it's definitely fun._

 _Also, my dudes! I recently started a blog - it mostly revolved around LGBT+ things, sprinkled with funny stories from my job and perhaps even some excerpts from upcoming chapters of my books. Feel free to check it out if you want, it's queerhaven dot com!_

 _Anyways! Ennnn-juh-hoy, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!_

 **Scapegoat**

 **Nine: Purple (and) Rain**

"Bam," Dale says, crossing his arms. "Back exit."

"Fantastic," Payten breathes, and we can barely hear them over the chaos happening inside the Dark Mage base. "Everyone get close, Brice and I will cast Swiftness spells on us all." In less than a minute, everyone is ready - except for Dale.

"Oh, no," he says, stepping back and putting his hands up as Payten stares at him. "I can't go with you."

"Why not," Payten deadpans.

"Go big or go home, right?" I ask. Even if I _am_ majorly jealous of the guy, I could never just leave him behind.

"Always," Dale replies. "But leaving now would make everyone suspicious of me. I would never be able to join a new base."

"Here's an idea: _don't_ join a new base!" Danielle huffs. "Just come with us, you muppet!"

Dale laughs. "Thanks, that's sweet. But I'm a Dark Mage; that's just what I am."

"You're lucky Seto wasn't awake enough to hear that," Brice grumbles, still trying to get Seto to respond to him.

"Come with us," Payten insists, holding out a hand. "You don't have to _be_ a certain way just to be accepted."

"I…" Dale glances down at his arm, at the glistening silver numbers waiting there. "Not now. But I'll think about it, okay?"

Payten hesitates for a second before nodding and retracting their hand. "Okay. Thanks for your help, Dale."

"Any time," he responds, smiling mischievously. "Later!"

Payten looks on for a few seconds more before nodding again and turning away, grabbing my hand as they sprint away from the base. I reflexively grab Danielle's, and she reflexively grabs Brice's, and Brice and Seto are practically attached at the hip anyways.

When I glance back, Dale is gone.

* * *

Our moods quickly descend into dangerous territory after that.

Brice has, unfortunately, reached the conclusion that Seto is basically brain dead. _Kind of._ He still walks and stuff. He just doesn't… act like Seto. He doesn't act at all - doesn't do _anything_ except tag along after Brice.

Obviously, this is taking a bit of a toll on us all. Brice keeps randomly stopping, turning around to ask Seto just _one more time_ if he's okay. Seto never responds. Meanwhile, Danielle can't stop glaring at Brice, and Payten refuses to fill the silence.

Oh. And it's raining.

Yeah.

Brice still has one hand latched onto Seto's arm as he drags the seemingly brain-dead sorcerer through the wet grass. He groans as his gravity-defying hair gets weighed down by rainwater. "You know," he huffs, tugging Seto along a little faster, "it'd be nice if we _weren't_ being rained on at the worst possible time."

The rain stops.

"Nice timing, world," Brice whispers in awe, but Danielle huffs and shakes her head.

"Look up, you muppet," Danielle snaps. Payten, Brice, and I do just that only to realize that there seems to be a shimmering, almost transparent boundary above our heads that moves with us as we walk. Whenever we move, harmless purple sparks jitter around the boundary.

"Magic," I whisper. It never fails to be cool.

"Wait, who cast it?" Brice asks in confusion. Payten throws up their hands in defense, and Danielle crosses her arms.

" _He_ did," she says bitterly, nudging towards Seto. "Guess he's exactly what you wanted from him now."

"What?" Brice asks, furrowing his eyebrows in mass confusion, and Danielle very nearly _growls_ at him. Geez.

"You've got his magic," she says, "without the _hassle_ of _him."_

My mind flashes back to the far-away battle during which a Dark Mage walked around talking about how the only reason Brice would want Seto is for his power. Afterward, I have a clear view of Seto's hurt expression as Brice fails to deny it.

When my vision is back to normal, I look around and notice that everyone but Danielle seems to have gotten the surprise flashback - she must have magicked it into our minds. Payten is frowning, looking almost disapproving; of whom, I'm not entirely sure. Brice, on the other hand, looks like he's about to cry, with rapidly blinking eyes and a hand that won't stop clenching and unclenching around the fabric of his shirt.

"I didn't want this," he chokes out, looking at Seto with massive regret.

"Really? Because you basically told Seto this is _all_ you wanted," Danielle snarls, and I've never known her to hold a grudge for so long but she's _definitely_ holding a grudge now.

Vaguely, I think to myself that this is definitely not how brain-dead-ness works.

Brice lurches towards Seto and throws his arms around him; of course, Seto doesn't respond, but Brice cries into his shoulder anyways. "Please come back, please," Brice sobs, and Danielle has the decency to look a little guilty as her eyes flit down to the ground.

"We need to keep moving," Payten says softly.

"Wh-" Brice lets out another sob and shakes his head sharply. "Where are we even _going?_ What's the _point?"_

"We're going to find Lizza and the other kids," Payten says firmly. "Before we went after Seto, we… we were close. We're going to save those kids and go home."

Brice sniffles and buries his face in the crook of Seto's neck, letting out one more sob when Seto doesn't respond. "Seto, why won't you hold me like you used to?" he whimpers despite the fact that he knows it's useless.

Almost mechanically, Seto wraps his arms around Brice, who just cries harder.

"I want _you,"_ he sniffs. "The real you, the you that rolls your eyes at me when I'm stupid and acts all cocky even though you're still insecure, and the you that manages to be sarcastic and loving at the same time, and the you who looks bad guys in the eye and says some crazy cool one-liner even when you know you're going to lose the battle, and- and-" He squeezes Seto more tightly. "I want you back!"

Danielle is far past simply looking guilty at this point. She sighs as she walks over to Brice and awkwardly reaches up to pat his back. "It's okay, Brice. I'm sorry for what I said - this really isn't your fault," she says quietly.

"We'll fix him," I promise even though I have no right to be promising such a thing.

"If you say so," Brice whispers, and we all take a few more moments to let him mourn.

But then Payten gets impatient. "We aren't going to fix him by standing around all day," they huff. "We _have_ to keep moving."

Brice sighs and tries to pull away, but Seto doesn't move. "Seto- Seto, let go," Brice says, and Seto's arms fall back limply against his sides.

Payten takes a deep breath. "The coordinates that Seto wrote on my hand, I- I memorized them, so- We'll just run there, I guess. We can't possibly teleport that far."

"Okay," Brice sniffles. "Come on, Seto. Let's go."

* * *

"We're nearing that facility thing," Payten announces.

"Ew, don't call it a facility," I mumble, and Payten shrugs.

"Do we have a plan?" Danielle asks, slowing as we approach the gigantic front gates.

"Here's one: _Don't_ get seen by security cameras," Payten groans, pointing up at the one that has already recorded our approach.

"Is there a way to _delete_ stuff that's already been recorded?" Brice asks, tugging Seto to a stop.

"Uh, I don't think so?" Danielle replies. "I don't know, we never talked about that in our lessons."

As much as I know Danielle will hate it, I speak up. "Just tell Seto to do it," I say. "If he can't, then he can't. But if he can… Well, then he can."

Brice flinches, and whether it's because of Danielle's bitter expression or simply because of the idea of using Seto for his magic, I'm not sure. But, eventually, he sighs and turns to face the sorcerer. "Seto, delete the footage on the cameras," he says, and Seto signs some spell. The camera breaks. "And, uh, knock out anyone who saw us on the cameras," Brice adds.

Seto smiles mechanically like he's having a robotic field day, and for a moment we have a bit of hope. There are several shouts from inside the facility, and then Seto drops both his hand and his smile. How subtle.

"Of course, Seto gets a kick out of mass-murder even when he's brain dead," Payten mumbles, and Brice and Danielle glare at them. They shrug and put up two placating hands. "No judgment."

I tap on the gates of the facility several times. When that doesn't do anything, Payten punches the gates, but of course all that does is startle Brice. "Hold me," he whispers to Seto. "They're scary."

Seto complies.

"Hey, could you tell him to unlock the gates for us..?" I ask tentatively.

"Seto, unlock the gates," Brice orders. Seto's eyes roll up in his head for a split second, and then the gates swing open.

"Sweet," Payten mutters.

"I hate you," replies Danielle.

Brice grabs Seto's hand and pulls him through the gates with us. "So, are we just gonna storm the place?" he asks.

I shrug. "I mean, why not?"

"Because we might die?" huffs Danielle, who is still bitter.

"Nah," replies Payten, who holds pettier grudges than Danielle.

I take a moment to look up at the tall building before us. It's got walls that I swear stretch half way to the moon, and they're so shiny that I can see my reflection in them. The pathway beneath my worn shoes is made of smooth marble, which is a nice contrast to the bumpy grasslands we were walking on before. The roof of the place is flat, making it look like a skyscraper, and, overall? It looks pretty nice.

"Let's storm it!" I decide before I can let myself be influenced by the giant, intimidatingly blood red "Dark Mages" logo on the side of the building.

Seto unlocks the doors for us, and we burst right in. The walls of the place look exactly the same on the inside as they do on the outside - hauntingly reflecting with a superior shine. To be honest, it's a little unnerving, but do you know what's even _more_ unnerving?

When a facility that you expected to be completely war-filled turns out to be scarily quiet.

"… Maybe they're still getting ready?" I suggest, nervously twirling my hair.

"Maybe," Payten shrugs, striding off down the hallway, and I groan and run after them with Brice, Seto, and Danielle trailing behind.

There must be half a million doors, but Payten doesn't go for any of them. They scan each silvery-gray door for approximately half a second before moving on, and they don't break that pattern until we've walked up two entire flights of shiny steps. "We're getting closer," Danielle says giddily, her bitterness overcome by the excitement of the mission. "I can feel it, with my magic!"

This is where Payten pauses, on the third floor of the building, right in front of the steps. "You feel it, too? Fantastic." They close their eyes for a moment. "I think they're on this floor. You think so?"

Danielle nods eagerly, glancing around at all the doors at our disposal. "Which one do we try first?"

Payten shrugs. "The first one, I guess."

We all file into the first room on the right while Payten keeps watch to make sure no one sneaks up on us. The room seems to be empty of actual people, but there are dummies of every kind positioned helter-skelter all over the floor. Some are made of hay, some of cloth, some of actual stone. They all look like they've been beaten up and deserted, no longer used.

We back out of that room and try the next.

It doesn't have any dummies, which is a good start, I think. There are mage staffs scattered around the room, though, each with a different gem half-way absorbed into the top of it. One of them has a sticky note on it which reads simply, "secret human highest magic?" in messy scribe. Otherwise, the room is empty, so we leave that room alone, too.

"Third time's a charm?" I laugh nervously, placing my hand on the door handle. Slowly, slowly, I push it open-

Almost immediately, my friends and I find ourselves trapped in a large green bubble.

Save for Seto, that is.

Brice couldn't keep contact with him when he was sucked up into the air to be a part of this bubble-fest, so Seto just… didn't follow. And now he's all alone down there to face the forty or so Dark Mages in this terrifyingly large room. Also, he's basically brain-dead.

"Seto, knock them out!" Brice shouts, but apparently Seto can't hear him through the bubble. Seto just stands stock still as his eyes flit over us in our trapped state, and Brice groans and throws his head back. "We're doomed."

"Yes, you are," confirms a detached voice, and the only person outside our bubble that's moving her lips is the metaphorically four-eyed Dark Mage below us. "Unless, of course, you respect our demands."

"No, thanks," I huff, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Payten is slowly signing something to Brice.

"Put your left hand up, and slide your index finger against it like you're knifing someone," they whisper quietly, and Brice sloppily copies their motions.

"You haven't even heard them yet," the Dark Mage scoffs, and I turn my attention back to her. "All we ask is that you locate a rogue Mage of ours. She has some precious… _materials_ that we need, but she knows what we look like. She won't let us near her."

"And you can't overpower her?" Danielle laughs. The woman bristles.

"She is currently more able-bodied than us because of… reasons I cannot disclose. Retrieve the materials, and we will free you and give you… what you seek."

"The children?" I ask.

She blinks. "Yes."

"Then put up your index finger… make a fist with your thumb on the outside… put up your middle and index finger and cross them… put up your middle and index finger and stick your thumb in between them..," Payten mutters to Brice.

"How will we know which materials are the ones we need?" I ask.

"You will know because she will guard them with her life," the Mage replies. "She will try to dissuade you; do not let her. The lives of _your children_ are in our hands."

"Put your thumb underneath all your fingers except for your pinky… make the fist again with your thumb to the side..," Payten continues while Brice carefully mimics them. "Stick your index finger out to the side… rest all of your finger nails on top of your thumb… make a fist with your thumb in front of the rest of your fingers."

"In fact… This is the Dark Sorcerer, is it not?" the Mage asks, striding forward to get close to Seto. Seto actually flinches and shrinks in on himself when the Mage cups his cheeks with her hands, and Brice goes dangerously stiff. "Beautiful. I've heard the stories of his magic, but I never knew he was so _handsome,"_ she purrs, dragging a finger down his cheek. Seto shudders, which is more of a reaction than we've gotten out of him since the Miss May incident. He takes a mechanical step back, but the Dark Mage follows him, throwing her arms around his neck. She leans in so close that we can see his breath fogging up her glasses, and Seto lets out a pitiful whimper. Brice yanks away from Payten to focus his eyes completely on Seto, who doesn't even notice him.

"Maybe I'll keep _you_ here, too," the Mage snickers, "just to give your friends more reason to come back. They _must_ want you, after all. Who _wouldn't_ want you?" Her fingers crawl up and weave themselves into Seto's hair, and he shakes his head oh-so-subtly and tries to step back, only to find that she's got him pressed against the wall.

"Give me some sugar," the Mage laughs cruelly, leaning forward just a little too much. Seto's eyebrows shoot up in a panic, and he glances silently up at Brice for help.

Brice takes the opportunity, signing the things Payten taught him sloppily but not sloppily enough to keep Seto from understanding, and Seto snarls and shoves the Dark Mage away before throwing up his hands and high-speed signing at least ten spells. Every Mage in the room drops to the floor, unconscious or maybe even dead, and my friends and I fall out of our bubble and onto a squishy purple mattress that immediately dematerializes once we stand up.

Brice breathes a sigh of relief and darts toward Seto, who relaxes into Brice's arms the moment he can. "Oh, Jeb, thank you," Brice breathes before pulling away to hold Seto at arm's length. "Are you okay?"

Seto doesn't respond, which, I guess, was to be expected. Brice just hugs him again before turning to the door.

"Hi," deadpans one of the dozens of Dark Mages that have gathered in the hallway. Before Brice can say anything at all, five Mages step forward with their arms outstretched.

Brice, Payten, and I step out of the way in time, but Danielle is too slow, and of course Seto doesn't move. Seto cries out and crumples to the ground the moment the Dark Mage touches him, but for Danielle, the opposite happens. Instead of her falling to the ground, she stands strong and unaffected as _the Dark Mage_ yells and falls down.

"Seto!" Brice shouts, splaying out a hand as though in reflex. The first half-moon of Mages surrounding the door jitter and fidget as a murky yellow magic courses through them, and then they fall to the ground, incapacitated for the moment. While Danielle, who seemingly gives zero craps about the fact that she almost got scapegoated, goes to help Seto up, Brice stares at his hands in horror.

"Brice?" I ask in concern as Payten holds off the now very angry Mages.

"I couldn't think of a spell fast enough," Brice breathes, looking dazed in the worst way.

"Well, apparently you did," Payten snaps as they usher us farther back into the room.

"No," Brice whispers. "It was _Dark."_

I don't exactly have time to worry about this new information because I am too busy realizing that the Dark Mages have managed to push us all the way to the back of the room - we're cornered. Brice is still freaking out, too horrified to do any good; Seto is leaned unsteadily against the wall, unable to help in the least; I am incapable of performing magic, and therefore not able to do anything other than punch people (which I have never been good at in the first place); and Payten and Danielle, while talented for their ages, stand no chance against this many Dark sorcerers.

"Okay!" I squeak on behalf of my team. "We'll find your materials for you."

"Yeah, you will," hisses one of the Mages. "And if you don't, we'll be waiting, ready to kill those children of yours."

"And take that defenseless sorcerer of yours, too," another Mage says, smirking as he looks over at Seto with greedy eyes.

"Not fair that Travis got to crash into him and I didn't," one of the Mages grumbles.

"Bet he got to get rid of his entire crash," a second Mage whispers, staring at Seto with envious, hooded eyes.

The rest of the Dark Mages begin murmuring, louder and louder, and-

Brice, having seemingly been snapped out of his trance by Seto's plight, wraps his arms around Seto protectively and glares at the crowd of Dark Mages. "No, you can't have him," Brice growls. "He has to come with us to get the materials, or else we just won't get them."

"We can crash _before_ you go," a Mage says threateningly.

"No, you can't, because then he won't be able to walk," Brice huffs at them.

Apparently these "materials" they want are worth giving up a chance to crash into Seto, because the Mages grumble and make a way for us to walk through them to the door. Brice grabs Seto's hand and holds it a little too tightly as we walk, and Payten follows suit with me while I follow suit with Danielle.

"Ow," say the vast majority of us, and only Seto remains silent as Brice drags us all past the Mages and and down the stairs and right out the front door. The Mages mockingly wave us goodbye, and I wince as they slam the door behind us.

"This will end badly," I nervously spout.

"But at least it will end," Brice whispers.


	11. Ten: Fake Plants

_the aro person in the comments: danielle is def aromantic, and if she's gonna wholeheartedly accept a stranger from the real world as aro, then its about time she accepts herself, too. (also, she wants to be friends!)_

 _that one person on ff . net from... somewhere? i cant find your review but i know you wanted me to answer SOME question in the A/Ns of scapegoats... I'm sorry for losing your review ._

 _Anyways, here's the real chapter. (The wattpad Rulers got April Fools'd.) En-juh-hoy! And if it doesnt seem very climactic, well, maybe its not the climax..._

 **Scapegoat**

 **Ten: Fake Plants and Real Disasters (And Artificial Lemonade!)**

When we finally find the quaint little farmhouse the Mages described, Brice's first idea is to knock on the fricking door.

"We might as well just die. Right here, right now," I groan, but no one makes an effort to step away from the cute little screen door.

"Just a minute!" wobbles a sweet old voice, and Payten looks at me with an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

It's uncomfortably silent after the old door swings open, and we're faced with nothing but a tiny old lady in a long flowery dress. "Well, aren't you a cute one! I haven't seen such a cute young girl since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety," the lady crows, looking down at Danielle. "And who are you all?"

"Uh," Brice begins, "we're here because, um- do you have, uh- some kind of material thing?"

"The strategical genius strikes again," Payten mutters, but then they freeze as large, pale pink spikes come into existence right above our chests.

"You're with the Mages," the woman hisses.

"No! No no," I laugh nervously, putting up my hands in placation. "We're- We're being blackmailed, um- maybe we could work something out?"

The spikes disappear, and the lady's placid smile fades back onto her wrinkled face. "Oh, how dare they disrupt such cute youth! Surely we can figure out a compromise to get us both out of this alive," she says happily, her eyes nearly entirely closed. She turns and hobbles further into the homely little house, and Payten and I exchange a glance before following after her.

"I take back everything I said about your strategy skills," Payten whispers to Brice as we walk. Danielle sighs, and I laugh quietly as we walk right into the woman's living room.

"I'm Mary Scriggins, dears, you can call me Mary!" the old lady says as she slowly lowers herself down into a recliner. Beside the recliner is a tall potted plant, and beside the plant is another, matching recliner. Mrs. Scriggins - Mary - gestures for us to come sit down, and I grudgingly sit in the recliner once my friends hurriedly take up all the room on the couch across from the chairs.

"So, let's talk about this! What are the conditions of your silly ol' blackmailin' problem?" Mary asks, smiling warmly at us all.

"Uh- Our friends, they're being held… somewhere with the Dark Mages, and we can't get them back unless we get these 'materials' from you," Brice explains, visibly squeezing Seto's hand a little more tightly. I think he's still shaken up about the whole Dark magic thing from earlier. I mean, yeah, obviously, I would be, too.

"Oh, well, knowin' the Mages, you'll need either an army or a him to get your friends back without my materials. 'Till him, I hadn't seen anyone beat the Mages since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety!" she says, pointing a craggly finger at Seto. "And I'm guessin' he's out of order?"

"Um… Yeah," Brice says quietly.

I butt in so he doesn't have to explain. "A Dark Mage crashed into him, and now he's… something. He's not himself."

Mrs. Scriggins' eyebrows fly up into her greyed-out hairline. "I see! You little people might just be in luck," she mumbles to herself, glancing down at her lap before snapping her eyes back up to ours. "Workin' out a compromise won't be any problem at all, I don't think," she assures us.

"What do you have in mind?" Payten asks, skeptically crossing their arms (as much as they can, anyways, what with how crowded that couch is. Payten's elbows dig into Danielle's sides).

"I'll be right back," Mary says, slowly standing up, and I awkwardly get up to help her. "Oh, thank you, dear. I'll just be right back, with some lemonade! You young people like lemonade, don't you? I haven't made lemonade for young'uns since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety…" She hobbles out of the room before any of us can answer, and I sit back down in my recliner.

"She seems nice," Danielle says, trying to break the silence. When no one says anything in response, Danielle huffs and wiggles away from the crowded couch, and then she darts over to my recliner and squishes herself down next to me. I roll my eyes as I make room for her. "I think she's really gonna help us."

"Hopefully," Brice sighs, but then he glances over at Seto and I know he knows any help the woman can give us will not be enough.

For a long time, it's uncomfortably silent again. We can faintly hear Mrs. Scriggins toddling about in what must be the kitchen. "Notch, it's hot in here," I complain, leaning back against the chair. "Ever heard of AC?"

"You could always cut your hair," Payten snorts. "Nearly everyone else has."

Danielle and I freeze in almost perfect synchronization. "Haha," I laugh awkwardly, forcing myself back to life as I regret my awkward conversation starter. "I guess so."

"I haven't cut my hair!" Danielle points out, shakily pointing to her own brunette head.

"You've kind of got a reason," Payten says, shrugging as they, too, stand up and move towards me and peer at my head. "We oughtta get you a haircut, make you look all edgy so the JBPD will look cooler," they laugh, giving me a toothy grin, and I smile weakly. "You could maybe shave the sides, get something like what I've got going, or maybe at least an undercut or something-"

I squeak and jump in my seat when Payten's thin fingers begin to pull gently at my hair, and Danielle winces quite obviously. "I, uh, don't please. I think shaving would probably be too much," I giggle nervously.

Payten squints, slowly backing up. "Back home, you always complained about how thick your hair is. But you won't even consider cutting it, or thinning it out..?"

"I, I like it thick! I do," I say, nodding feverishly.

"You always seem to like it when Danielle plays with your hair," they continue, moving towards me once more. I find myself pressing back into the leather of the recliner. "And you know Lizza loves playing with people's hair. Heck, so do I, but Lizza's even asked you before. Why do you always tell her 'no'?"

"I'm really good at playing with hair?" Danielle squeaks.

"Babe," Payten says. "What's up?"

"I…" My voice falters as I look up into their eyes and see the tiny tell-tale swirl of silver in their irises.

Magic.

Magic that I can't match.

"It's nothing," I whisper, coughing afterwards to force my voice back to normal. "I guess I'm just picky about my hair." Payten furrows their eyebrows in concern, and I laugh awkwardly again. "So," I say, grabbing a leaf off the potted plant next to me. "This plant looks kind of thirsty. Got any water?"

"Jen, a leaf is in your hand. I think it's pretty clear the plant is fake," Payten replies, rolling their and eyes and dropping the topic for my sake. All the same, my eyes go wide, my breath catches in my throat.

"What?" I ask weakly.

"Jen, a leaf," Danielle says, carefully enunciating each word. "You're holding a leaf. That's all."

"Oh," I reply dumbly, trying not to make my relief too obvious. "Uh. Yeah. Haha."

"Don't kill my fake plant," Mrs. Scriggins huffs as she toddles back into the room, a tray of glasses in her hands. "I didn't let you all in so you could up and wreck the place!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Scriggins," Payten replies dutifully, grudgingly sitting back down next to Brice on the couch.

"Bah, I told you to call me Mary!" Mrs. Scriggins huffs.

"Yes, Mrs. Scriggins," Payten sighs, and Mary squints.

"Well, anyways, you kids can come get your drinks," she says, placing the tray on a side table next to the couch. Danielle and I squirm out of the recliner, and Mary continues talking. "You want a cure for your boy, right?"

We all freeze, slowly looking over to her with wide-eyes. Danielle almost drops her lemonade. "A- There's a cure?" Brice asks, his eyes nearly watering with relief.

"Of sorts," Mrs. Scriggins replies. "With the state he's already in, I don't know how well it'll work. But, here's the deal: if my cure ends up workin' on him, then you kids have to leave me and my 'materials' alone. Don't tell the Mages a word about this place."

"Deal! Deal, deal, deal!" Brice laughs, jumping to his feet and tugging Seto with him. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"I haven't seen anyone so excited since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety," Mrs. Scriggins chuckles. "Okay. I'll be right out with your cure."

Once more, she hobbles out of the room, this time exiting the house through a door in the kitchen.

"Well," Payten breathes. "Pretty eventful day, huh, babe?"

"A complete rollercoaster," I reply tiredly, taking a single sip of my lemonade before putting it back down on the tray. Danielle sneaks over to the fake plants and feels its leaves a bit before slowly beginning to pour lemonade into the dirt at its base. "Behave," I huff, and she pouts and drinks some of her lemonade. I pretend not to see her when she goes back to watering the fake plant with it. "You think Seto can take the Mages after he's cured?" I ask.

"I know he can," Brice says confidently. "There's not a single sorcerer in the whole world who can even hold a candle to him when he's healthy," he continues proudly, a renewed light in his eyes. "I would not want to be, like… on the side of the Dark Mages."

"The side of the Dark Mages, huh?" a voice cackles lowly, angrily, and we all look up at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Don't. Move," Mrs. Scriggins growls, and we're already frozen in place anyways. Brice is biting his lip with his left hand still held tightly in Seto's right; Danielle's hands are on the leaves of the fake plant; Payten's arms are crossed as they slowly stand up again, pushing their luck with the old lady. And I'm halfway between Payten and Danielle, with my eyes already flitting toward Payten.

"We're not going to cast any spells," Payten says slowly, looking straight at Mary. "Let's just talk, okay, hon?"

"I haven't been called 'hon' since-"

"The flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety. We know. What we don't know is why you're suddenly attacking us."

"I heard all you kids schemin' against me in here. You must be workin' with the Mages!" the lady screeches, pointing a scraggly finger at us. "Every single one of you, 'cept for the human, you all cross your arms right now!"

Payten shrugs, and Danielle carefully folds her arms in. Meanwhile, Brice awkwardly whispers for Seto to cross his arms, and I take a minuscule step towards Payten.

"Him! I want him completely distracted! And you, sidekick, don't think I don't know about your Verbal Magic! I took classes on you two!"

Brice clamps his mouth shut and then furrows his eyebrows, completely at a loss as to how he might "distract" Seto.

"Behhhh," Mrs. Scriggins huffs. "Dense. Aren't you two havin' sexual relations with each other? Distract him! Notchdang blushin' young ones," she mutters, and Brice is definitely blushing.

"Uh, I'll just- Um, he's not really in any state to cast anyways, uh-"

"Eh, well, I've got my eyes on you!" she insists, glaring at them before looking back at us three not-boys. "Now, I want y'all to follow me, arms crossed, and if any one of you kids tries to cast anything, I'll end your lives right here and now!"

"Seto, do not say a word," Brice breathes.

Seto doesn't even blink.

"Mental Magic!" Mary shrieks, and I feel the crackle of magic in the air before it even appears.

"Wait!" Brice shouts desperately, but Mary's pale pink magic is already shooting out towards each one of us, and I'm already darting over the few feet to stand in front of Payten-

"First of all," Payten says when the pink spike freezes about an inch away from my face, "don't ever try that again."

Brice breathes out a long sigh of relief, and I dare to open my eyes just in time to watch him fall back against the couch. Seto doesn't move, and Danielle swallows hard before stepping out of the way of the spike hovering in front of her.

"Second," Payten continues, spinning me around to face them, "it means a lot, babe." Their soft smile is worth any pain I would have felt, and I don't think I ever would've regretted a thing.

"Dark magic," Brice groans, throwing his hand over his eyes. "Super Dark magic."

"Alive friends," Danielle shakily replies. "Super alive friends."

"Oh, Jeb, Danielle," I breathe, rushing over to her and crouching down in front of her small frame. My hands end up on her shoulders, centering her in front of me. "Dani, I'm so sorry, you're okay, right?"

"I'm fine," Danielle replies, shrugging slightly as she looks off to the side. Oh, Jeb.

"Dani, I'm really sorry," I whisper, and Payten strikes up an awkward conversation with Brice for my sake. "I wasn't thinking, oh Jeb- you could've died, I'm so sorry."

"I understand, don't worry," she replies with a sad little smile, and I genuinely would rather die.

"You kids use Dark?" Mrs. Scriggins asks, sounding dazed as Brice's pause spell wears off. The spikes clatter uselessly to the ground and disappear.

"Not usually," Brice sighs.

"We're not with the Dark Mages," Payten says firmly, glaring at Mary. "We were talking about Seto. Our friend. Will you still help us?"

"Oh!" Mrs. Scriggins' warm smile reappears. "Of course! Just a misunderstanding, I just can't keep up with this new-fangled language, you see- I haven't taken a single English class since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety! Anyways, if you kids will just follow me outside, I've got it all set up…"

"Paranoid much?" I whisper, and Payten blows out a breath, shakes their head, and follows after her.

"Let's go," Danielle says, gently shouldering me aside to trail along after Payten, and I swallow my hurt and my guilt and run behind her.

"Now," Mary begins as we walk through her outside/kitchen door, "we'll probably need a human buffer considerin' his magic level is too high to be used without one…"

"I volunteer as tribute," I say immediately, shooting my hand up into the air. "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

"Well, okay, then! All you have to do is put your hand here on his shoulder..," she says, forcefully pulling Seto away from Brice. Brice winces but backs up anyways. "And then put your other hand here on this neat little rock, whenever you're ready!"

"A… rock?" I ask, staring at the boulder-type thing in front of me. It's a sparkling, almost translucent white color, but it seems entirely solid. I don't exactly plan to touch it yet. It's only now that I notice the piles of hay around us (which I'm thinking are just for show, seeing as there are literally no animals around) and the many muddy puddles, withering crops, and wooden fences. I shake my head. "Seriously, a rock?"

"We've spent years tryin' to figure out the science behind scapegoats," Mary says. "All those higher-ups don't want you knowin' anythin' about it, but once we knew about the scapegoats, we also knew there had to be a better way. We've been searchin' for all the elements found in humans, and lookin' for those same elements in nature, and this was the only crystal-thing left on our list before I found the first one. Once I found it, and I realized it could hold my crashes, I didn't tell anyone, just took lots of 'em and ran! Now I just wanna live out my days with no crashes… just peace. Jeb knows the Mages'll only use these things to kill folks. No use makin' it easy for them."

"Notch bless you," Payten chuckles. "You're a good person."

"Haven't heard that since…"

Figuring it's now or never, I reach forward and press my hand to the definitely-solid surface of the crystal, and at first I'm shocked by how smooth it feels.

But then I scream out in pain as the crash moves out of Seto, through me, and into the crystal scapegoat, and Payten reaches out a hand toward me but then quickly yanks it back. Thankfully, and quite surprisingly, the process is pretty quick. The pain stops, so I glance at Mary for confirmation and then back away from Seto and the scapegoat. Payten holds me tightly as we all stare at Seto, waiting for a verdict.

After a few seconds, he simply blinks.

Brice bursts into tears and doesn't even notice when Seto furrows his eyebrows in confusion. Danielle's hands fly to cover her mouth when she notices that small bit of expression, and I grin from ear to ear. Meanwhile, Brice is still under the impression that the crash-transfer was unsuccessful, so he wipes his eyes and practically slams into Seto's chest. "Seto, hold me," he begs, as he has learned to do.

Seto raises an eyebrow and glances around at Danielle, Payten, and me each in turn, and when none of us say anything, he shrugs and wraps his arms around Brice as he cries.

This goes on for about thirty seconds before Seto gets up the courage to quietly ask, "Are you okay..?"

Brice yelps and jumps backwards, falling into a puddle of mud. This causes him to shout again, and the rest of us burst out laughing. "W-What- You-" Brice splutters as he stumbles to his feet, and Seto furrows his eyebrows in concern. "What the crap!?"

Seto's eyebrows go up and then down again in confusion, and he bites his lip for a moment before turning to me and asking quietly, "Is it the accent again?" Payten nods super seriously before I can tell him the truth, and Seto nods in understanding before turning back to Brice, who literally just watched the entirety of our tiny conversation. Perhaps Seto is still a little drowsy. "I'm sorry," he says, the forced American accent taking hold again.

"N-No, you idiot!" Brice laughs, slamming into Seto once more and wrapping his arms around him. "Oh my Jeb, I missed you so much, don't ever leave me again!"

Brice's eyes leak tears as he laughs, and he nuzzles his face against Seto's neck. Meanwhile, Seto just looks at us all with wide, confused eyes, likely wondering what he did right. "Ah- I'm sorry, I don't think I understand-" he begins, still American. "Don't you hate me..?"

"No, I never hated you!" Brice shouts, pulling away to hold Seto at arm length. "I'm just a, a total idiot, and I- Oh my Jeb, Seto, you were- I'm so, so sorry, I love you so much." He leans forward and lands a quick peck on Seto's lips before Seto can even react, and Seto brings a hand up to ghost over his lips.

"Did you just-?"

"Yes!" Brice laughs. "And, for the love of Notch, can you pick up your British accent again? It's super fricking adorable. Jeb, I love you! And not for your magic, but for you- everything about you, I just- I love you, I love you, I love you!" He pulls Seto's arms back around him and relaxes into Seto's hold, and Seto just huffs in disbelief.

"Ah, okay. I love you, too," he laughs, British accent restored. Then he freezes. "Wait. No, I was supposed to- Oh, I've messed everything up," he groans.

"Hey, shut up," Brice demands, pointing a finger up at him. "You are not dying, not anymore. We fixed you, see?"

"Fixed me-?" Seto starts, but then his eyes go wide and he seems to remember. "Miss May," he breathes.

"Yeah, we don't like her anymore," Danielle says quickly. "Now, please, can I hug you? I've been waiting so patiently so Brice could have his reunion, but now I want mine!"

Brice pouts and steps aside so Danielle can laugh and jump into Seto's arms, and Seto lets out an "oof" and stumbles back several steps. "Yikes. Bit old for that, don't you think?"

"Never!" Danielle insists, and Seto smiles and sets her down so he can hug her properly.

"I missed you, too," he laughs, and Danielle grins. "Jenny, Payten-"

Danielle shoves a hand over his mouth, and he raises an eyebrow as she huffs and continues. "No, my time's not over yet! I have to apologize first."

Seto pulls her hand off his mouth and tilts his head. "Apologize? For what?"

"For being so mean to you," she pouts, snuggling into his arms. "Mostly, for saying that Brice… hated you." Seto's face darkens, and Danielle rushes on. "But he doesn't! He doesn't, I swear!"

"I don't, I swear," Brice echoes seriously.

"Well- Thank you," Seto finally says. "Apology accepted."

"Finally," I huff, dragging Payten over so I can quickly hug Seto. He grins and encases us both in a much longer hug, and I sigh in relief. We've finally gotten him back. He's safe, he's okay.

"Thank you two for everything," he says seriously once we part.

"No problem," Payten replies. "I'm really, really, glad you're okay, Seto."

We all stare at Seto expectantly.

Finally, he sighs and gives in. "You want me to apologize for my death plan."

Brice puts his hand on his hip, and Payten crosses their arms.

"I am sorry," Seto says obediently. "Sorry for hurting you, certainly, always. But to save you from a greater pain… To save you from a greater pain, I would do it all again."

"No. You. Wouldn't," Brice sniffs, poking Seto on the nose with each word, and his eyebrows shoot up as he jumps back. "We love you, all of us! We can't lose you. So if anything like this ever happens again, you can bet your buttons you'll be telling us about it."

Slowly, slowly, Seto's frown tips up into a smile. "Thank you," he whispers.

"Thank you," Brice argues angrily.

"Kids these days!" Mrs. Scriggins huffs. "I haven't seen a show like that since-"

"The flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety," everyone but Seto and Mary chants, and then we all burst out into laughter while those to look on in confusion.

"Ah… apologies," Seto says politely, quickly scanning the crystal and then following it up with a short spell as he graciously ignores our laughter. Immediately, several piles of the scapegoat crystals appear in front of Mary, who gapes at Seto. "Please accept this as thanks for your hospitality."

"Where did you get this!?" she asks, eyes nearly bugging out of her head.

Seto shrugs. "There's a mine located a few miles from here, by the river. Apparently no one has ever properly discovered it."

"Oh, bless you young people! I knew youth was good for somethin'!" Mrs. Scriggins laughs gleefully, tottering back inside. "Now get off my Notchdang farm!"

* * *

 _I haven't written a chapter like this since the flood of Twenty-Oh-K-Oh-Ninety..._


	12. Eleven: Multiple Issues, Actually

_The Real Climax Begins._

 **Scapegoat**

 **Eleven: Multiple Issues, Actually**

"So there's, like, a force field around her house now?" I ask, squinting at the glittery purple, mostly transparent dome around Mrs. Scriggin's farm.

"She _and_ the crystal scapegoats will be protected from the Dark Mages. With my health restored," Seto says, glancing gratefully at us all, "it will be no trouble to subconsciously keep up this enchantment."

"Great," Danielle says, nodding anxiously. "So can we go back to the facility thing now? Please?"

"Of course!" Seto replies, turning away from Mrs. Scriggins' house. "Payten, have you still got the crystal?"

Payten nods, tugging the tiny scapegoat crystal we got from Mrs. Scriggins out of the pocket of their jeans. "Sure do, Dad," Payten says jokingly, and Seto rolls his eyes but gives Payten a loving smile anyways.

"Then, yes, on to the facility we go. Ah-" He furrows his eyebrows. " _Why,_ exactly, are we going there again?"

"So you can wreck everyone and we can get our friends back!" Danielle huffs, crossing her arms. "Can we _hurry,_ please?"

Seto closes his eyes for a moment. "Ah, yes, sorry, my memories from that time period are just very- _fuzzy_ right now. But-" He opens his eyes and grins before glancing at Brice and letting his smile abruptly drop. "The children are not at the 'facility' we visited. Rather, they are in Our City. All we have to do is…" He sighs. "Go home."

"Are you okay?" Brice whispers, leaning in close behind his boyfriend, and Seto bites his lip and nods a little and then spins around and hugs Brice incredibly tightly.

"I love you," Seto mumbles into Brice's shirt, and I can barely hear it.

"I- I mean, I love you, too, Seto!" Brice furrows his eyebrows worriedly. "But- Are you _okay?"_

"I'm fine, just as long as you're here," Seto assures him, stepping back and smiling slightly. "Ah-" He turns back to the rest of us with a tint of purple surrounding his being. "Time to go home?"

"But the facility-" I begin.

Seto signs a spell that I distinctly remember forcing myself to forget, and something very far in the distance simply explodes.

"Yeah." Brice shrugs, giggling slightly and holding tightly to Seto's free hand. "Finally."

Seto casts a quick swiftness spell, and then we're off. The distance is passed incredibly quickly; I guess I forgot exactly how powerful Seto is. But right when we've reached the edge of Seto's forest, he suddenly calls of the spell, and we all skid to a surprised halt.

"Before, ah…" He glows again, though he's clearly trying to control. "Listen, Brice- I understand if, after all that's happened, your feelings have changed in some way- or, if anything else- Ah-" He pinches his arm. "Can't talk today." He forces out a laugh. "And, I- I don't mean to offend you, Brice." The poor, awkward sorcerer pulls on the sleeve of his robe. "But, if- I understand if, ah, magic, and- Whether you have to make a choice, or- I get that I don't have much to offer other than my magic, so-" He groans and throws his head back. "Even _I_ don't know what I'm trying to say."

But Brice has already deciphered Seto's rambling. "Seto, no!" he huffs, and Seto flinches back, surprised. Brice hurries on. "I love you for you! I love you for your smile, and your voice, and your touch! I love you for your sarcasm and your accent, and I love you for how caring you always are. Even back when you thought you were this terrible, evil sorcerer, you still cared more about people than anyone else I knew. I love _you,_ Seto, not- not your magic. Your magic, your _talent -_ that isn't what _makes_ you. Er, I mean- it's what _made_ you, technically, as the Dark Sorcerer, but it isn't, like, what made _you?_ Crap, I'm not making sense-"

Seto slams forward and hugs Brice even more tightly than he did back at Mrs. Scriggins' place (which is actually quite impressive). Brice, being the angel that he is, just smiles softly and hugs him back. Finally, after a long, comfortable moment, Seto backs up and takes a deep breath. "All right. Ah, with that-" he glows wildly, "-in mind, I think I might actually be able to… Ah. Let me just, get my thoughts together." He takes another deep breath and blows it out slowly before speaking again, a bit more quietly this time. "I… know we've had a hard couple of months. And I know it's mostly my fault," he sighs. "But we- we made it through all that, right? And- ah, the day before I realized what was going on with the effects of my past crashes, I was actually planning a… I was planning to…"

"What is it?" Brice asks, tilting his head. "It's okay, you can tell me."

"I…" Seto laughs and shakes his head, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "This is… not how I wanted this to go, I'll admit, but-" He swallows hard and looks up at Brice again. "We've been together for a long time, Brice, and I- I want us to be together for an even _longer_ time. So… Dear Notch." Seto lowers himself to one knee and squeezes his eyes shut fearfully. _"Summone GIFT."_

Nothing appears, and Seto forces himself to open his eyes. "W-What are you..?" Brice begins.

"Give it a minute," Seto chuckles, and, immediately afterward, a small, velvety black box appears in his hand.

"Oh my Jeb," Brice breathes. Danielle shoves her fist in her mouth and screams around it.

"You deserve… a lot better than this," Seto breathes, looking down. He laughs weakly. "A lot better than _me._ But- But it would make me happy- and, ah, if it would make _you_ happy, then-" Seto takes one final deep breath and then blows it out slowly as he opens the box, revealing a beautiful gold band. "Bloody tea crumpets," he laughs. "Brice, will you marry me?"

"No, he will _not,"_ Michael booms, suddenly appearing at the edge of the forest, and Danielle looks ready to kill.

Seto jumps to his feet, automatically landing in a defensive stance. "Michael," he growls. Brice looks _highly_ displeased.

"Seto," Michael answers calmly, distaste clear in his deep voice. "I hope you can explain yourself."

"Excuse you? Sorry, pal, but I have nothing to explain."

"Oh? Explain why you think you have the right to-" Michael spits out his words, "- _propose_ to my brother!"

"Our world is a free one, my friend," Seto hisses, crossing his arms. "I proposed because I'm madly in love with him."

"And what if he says 'no?'"

"Then nothing will change - unless he wants it to."

"He doesn't want _anything_ with _you,"_ Michael sneers, and, at this point, he and Seto are right up in each other's faces.

"Uh, actually-" Brice begins, holding up a finger, and Michael glares at him. Brice puts his hands up in defense and takes a step back, leaving the boys to sort themselves out on their own.

"Don't _glare_ at my _boyfriend,"_ Seto says calmly, his voice filled with the only warning Michael will get.

"Don't _propose_ to my _brother,"_ Michael says back, a challenge in and of itself. "You _know_ you don't deserve him."

"Pal?" Seto begins, his eyes a fiery purple. "Say that one more time, and you won't be around to protest when I kiss him at your funeral."

"Ooh," I whisper. "Dang."

"Shut your worthless mouths," Michael huffs, splaying a hand out towards Payten, my sister, and me, and murder glints in Seto's eyes as we three find ourselves magicked into silence.

"Don't kill him!" Brice squeaks, squeezing in between the two men and pushing Seto backwards. "He- He didn't mean it, I'm sure!"

"Telling _me_ I'm worthless is one thing. Telling my _family_ they're worthless is another entirely," Seto growls, and Brice's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.

"He- Has he actually..?" Brice's quiet words fade before he can voice his concerns.

"I haven't said a word to him," Michael argues, crossing his arms and glaring past Brice at Seto.

"Bull _crap,_ but that's not an issue at the moment," Seto replies as magic sparks around his hands.

"Um? That definitely _is_ an issue!" Brice practically shouts, but Seto and Michael ignore him.

"Then what _is_ the issue?" Michael asks.

"For one, the way you treat your brother," Seto begins. "He is independent, and has no trouble making his own decisions. Additionally, the dirty little secret you've been keeping." Seto raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. "Care to share?"

"No, tell me about- about the _thing!"_

"It doesn't matter."

"It does if it's hurting you!"

"No." Seto takes a deep breath. "It doesn't. Everything is fine."

"Everything?"

"Everything except the fact that Michael has been kidnapping children from Our City."

"I- You're-" Brice turns to Michael with wide, innocent eyes. "He's lying, right?"

"Why would I lie?" Seto asks, although he looks guilty. "I'm sorry, Brice."

"S-So you _are_ lying!" Brice says, looking desperate.

"No," Seto sighs, "I'm sorry I'm… _not_ lying."

"Oh, Jeb," Brice breathes, glancing over at Michael and then inching closer to Seto.

The three men stare each other down for too long a while, and then Michael finally sighs and gives in. "Knowing how obnoxiously stubborn you are, you won't be letting up," Michael mutters. "Fine. How'd you know?"

Seto sighs. "I'd love to say I put together a handful of incredibly subtle clues, but the simple reality is that, when you called me a day or so ago, I heard Louis in the background of your side of the call."

Michael pales. _"Seriously?_ Of all the things-"

"You called him _while he was imprisoned!?"_ Brice shrieks.

"Most Mages don't carry phones," Seto says, shrugging. "I wasn't exactly patted down."

"You could have told us where he was!" Brice groans, pulling at his hair.

" _You're_ the one who took Louis!?" Danielle screams, having forcefully removed Michael's magic with her own. She stomps forward, and I have to sprint to catch up to her and pull her back. I have a feeling crap is about to _hit the fan._

"Yes," Michael says, shrugging his shoulders as he answers both their questions. Danielle seethes. "I meant to avoid him since you two were so close, but my crash came early and I needed a quick scapegoat. The pipsqueak wasn't even strong enough for me to crash into him. Useless." He shrugs again. "Sorry."

"You- You- Oh, Jeb," Brice moans, leaning against Seto for support. "This can't be happening."

"I am so sorry," Seto says.

"You shouldn't be," Michael says. He steps closer, leaning in toward his brother. "Can't you see, Brice? I did it for you."

Brice chokes on his spit.

"Do _not_ pin your wrongdoings on him," Seto hisses, clenching his hands into fists.

"I'm not! I'm just _saying…"_ Michael smiles warmly. "Brice, I did it to _protect_ you. You've been with this- this _addict_ for six years now. At first, I tolerated it, but now… it's gone too far, Brice. It isn't _funny_ anymore."

"Concept:" Brice says weakly. _"Our relationship isn't a joke."_

"Sure," Michael says patronizingly, waving him off. "But it's time you finally find yourself some suitable company. You deserve so much better than a worthless Dark mage."

"Mate," begins Payten.

"I will end you," I finish for them.

Michael rolls his eyes and waves his hand, shutting us up again, and Danielle angrily stomps her foot. "So, to get you out of this messy situation, I needed a scapegoat. For maximum power, as cliche as it sounds. I figured that, plus the addict's weakness due to his upcoming death, would be enough for me to overcome him. Then, with him gone, you and I could lead the city. It'd be just like old times," Michael says softly, convincingly. "Just the two of us again. Brother and brother against the world. Wouldn't you like that, little brother?"

"H-How long have you been talking to Seto," Brice asks, holding tightly to the sleeve of Seto's robe.

Michael laughs warmly. "For three years! You know that."

"No, I- how long have you been… telling him he's… did you really… please just tell me how long," Brice begs, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Brice," Seto says quietly.

"No, I want to know!" Brice insists, voice high and shrill.

"Not long," Michael says. I swear to Jeb, his smile could kill.

"Don't lie to your Notchdang brother," Seto growls.

"Then tell him yourself!" Michael says, smirking as he crosses his arms.

Seto chews harshly on his bottom lip and stares nervously down at the ground, and Brice tugs once on Seto's sleeve and looks up at him with pleading eyes.

"One year and three weeks," Seto blurts, shutting his eyes to avoid Brice's horrified expression. "I lie next to you until you fall asleep, but then I get up and stay up quite late working on spells, and- I'm sorry. One night he was just _there,_ in the basement - perhaps he was looking for something he'd lost - and he saw me, and… Is it enough to say that he was just very negative? Then he visited me the night after that. And the night after that. Ah, once you find out someone's weakness, it's… quite hard not to abuse it, I suppose."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Brice asks, sounding small.

"I- It wasn't important," Seto replies helplessly. "All he did was _talk._ It was simply- simply _obnoxious,_ like a fly buzzing around my ear while I worked. And having him around made you so… _happy._ I couldn't tell you. I couldn't bring myself to be that selfish." Seto swallows, hard, and looks back down at the ground. "Regardless, I thought I had it under control. If anything truly _terrible_ were to happen, I could easily hold my own against your brother. But then the crashing ordeal began, and-" Seto grits his teeth. "I couldn't shut him up. He always brushed my magic aside, and I was too exhausted to bother to fight back. No more silencing spells for me," he laughs weakly.

"You- Michael," Brice says, his voice low. "Did you know about Seto's… condition?"

"From the moment it began," Michael replies.

Brice's eyes darken.

(I hold Danielle back so her first murder doesn't take place when she's only twelve years old.)

"Did he ever hurt you? Like, um- p-physically?" Brice asks, forcing himself to calm down and look back at his boyfriend.

Seto snorts, and Michael huffs. "Once," Seto answers, and his lips turn up into a prideful smile. "But, worthless as I may be, I can _always_ hold my own in a fight." His smile drops abruptly. "I'm sorry."

" _Sorry?"_ Brice asks, his mouth hanging open in confusion. "For _what?"_

"Hurting your brother," Seto replies, frowning and furrowing his eyebrows. "If it helps at all, I healed him afterward."

"I- You- _Seto!"_ Brice nearly shouts, throwing his hands up, and Seto winces. "Seto, it was _self-defense!_ You should _not_ be sorry!"

"Notch. I am _not_ looking forward to this back and forth," Michael huffs. "You know he won't believe you, right? It's been a _year,"_ he laughs. "We might as well just end this now." Michael's hand shoots up into the air, and a foursome of dark orange spikes follows suit, jumping out of the ground below Seto.

Unfortunately for Michael, Brice is still clinging to Seto. And so, after Seto just _barely_ manages to push Brice out of the way in time, our beloved sorcerer grits his teeth, steps away from the spikes, and heals himself.

"That," Seto whispers scarily, "was _not_ okay."

"Forgive me," Michael replies, somehow still acting unafraid. "I didn't mean for Brice to get caught in the crossfire."

"If you want forgiveness, you go to _him,"_ Seto growls, pointing a finger at Brice. "If you want retribution…" A smirk slowly materializes on his face. "I'm your guy."

"Now, now," Michael begins, putting up his hands and smiling placatingly. "Let's be civil here."

"Civil?" Seto asks, laughing slightly as light purple magic flares up around his feet, teleporting him about a foot closer to Michael. His magic dances impatiently around him, waiting to be used. "Civility does not normally involve kidnapping small children." His magic flickers dark. He can't _still_ be faking, can he…? "Nor does it involve _endangering_ your _brother."_

"You're so aggressive," Michael comments, his eyes flitting judgmentally to Seto's hovering magic. "If you want to actually _fight,_ let's at least do it fairly."

"If I want to fight," Seto laughs, crossing his arms. His smile drops abruptly. "Come at me."

"T-This might not be the best way to figure things out," Brice comments nervously, shuffling his feet as he looks on, standing between the two men.

"First things first: this is between you and me," Michael says, snapping his fingers, and Payten, Danielle, and I find ourselves trapped in a murky orange bubble. Luckily, we can still hear and see what's going on - we just can't move. (Also, thank Notch, we can talk again.)

"Fine," Seto shrugs, grinning confidently.

"Maybe we could just talk about this?" Brice tries desperately.

"You can only talk so much," Michael says, not even glancing over at Brice. He narrows his eyes at Seto. "Second: We are not _him._ This fight will _not_ end in mercy," Michael says calmly.

If Seto is offended by the way Michael spoke of Brice, he's too angry for it to show. "Obviously," Seto replies smoothly.

"Third," Michael begins, suddenly firing a ball of Dark magic right at Seto's face. Our beloved sorcerer calmly steps to the left, his magic flaming up around him protectively.

Michael frowns, and Seto smirks. "Don't fret," Seto says, his voice patronizing and sweet. "'A' for effort!"

And then it has truly begun. Michael fires again, preemptively preparing another magic bolt in his other hand, and Seto dodges once more and smiles wide as wispy purple magic skims across Michael's skin.

"Stop!" Brice shouts, waving his arms to get their attention, but that's all he does. He doesn't step in - if I were him, I wouldn't either. I wouldn't know _how._ His brother or his boyfriend; he couldn't just _attack_ them, could he? Seto whispers a spell, and Michael summons a shield.

"Come _on!"_ Michael yells, throwing his shield at Seto, who growls when it grazes his arm. "Why are you even _trying?_ You're _weak!_ I've crashed all of my weakness into the kids I took from Your City, and it looks to me like you've _just now_ entered the process of recovery!"

"I didn't become the number one sorcerer in the world by paying attention to my limits," Seto scoffs. His eyes roll up into his head for half a second, and the magic dancing around him throws itself at Michael's chest. He blocks it at the last second.

Michael snarls. "A worthless title. You think that's going to matter when you're dead?" Seto sidesteps two more magical bolts, and Michael ducks down to avoid a spike to the face.

Payten snarls as they throw up a hand to dissipate Michael's barrier around us. Of course, Michael isn't even looking our way, too distracted by Seto to pay us any attention. "No fricking mercy," Payten growls, signing something that looks a _whole_ lot like "death."

Payten's ever-clear silver magic gathers menacingly above their rapidly moving hands, and suddenly I can't breathe. My chest is oddly tight, and I find myself swallowing as if to push down the feeling. Suddenly Danielle is out there at the end of Payten's sights, suddenly I'm letting her down again, and suddenly-

"No!" I gasp out, lurching forward in front of Payten and clasping both my hands around their left arm. My mouth is clamped shut again and I'm pulling Payten backwards before I can even register what I've done.

"What the Nether?" Payten asks, looking over at me with wide, frustrated eyes.

"They're brothers," I whisper.

"Brice's _brother_ is threatening the closest thing to a _father_ I've ever had," Payten hisses, yanking their arm out of my grasp.

I tug harshly on my pony tail, frantically going through every option I can think of (numbers "nada" through "nothing") as Payten turns away from me again. "Please, just- maybe they can figure it out on their own?" I ask desperately. I bite my lip, trying to think of ways to get through to them. "Please? _Babe?"_

"Sorry, _babe,_ but I don't think it's gonna work out that way," Payten spits.

"Stop, please!" Brice begs, his eyes flitting worriedly between the two sorcerers as their battle continues. Both boys are looking a little tired, each one clearly a capable opponent for the other, and it looks like Seto is just now getting around to sucking in the breath to respond to Michael's earlier taunt. Brice pulls at his hair in distress as he watches them.

Seto lifts his hand, and Michael hovers to avoid the brand new temporary pit of lava. "Yes, I do," Seto puffs as Michael regains his composure. "Regardless of my fate, I am survived by a beautiful story and a beautiful city. And what about you?"

"He's too tired," Danielle worries as she stops to gnaw on her fist, which she has shoved into her mouth again. She looks up at Payten and then flinches as she glances back at me.

My eyes are flitting back and forth between Payten and my sister, and I can't think, I can't think fast enough for this. "They're family," I say desperately, voice tiny and not at all convincing.

" _We're_ family!" Payten shouts back at me, and I could think of a million better reasons for their lips to be this close to my face. "Michael isn't even _good_ family!"

"Love is scary," I say weakly.

"Me?" There's a sudden loud crack of thunder as Michael summons a lightning bolt directly where Seto stands. He smiles smugly as he talks down to Seto. "I'll die years into the future, having defeated the 'number one sorcerer in the world.'"

The space where Seto stood is empty - the grass is singed, the air crackles with electricity. Seto is gone.

Except Seto is _not_ gone. Seto is behind Michael. "Not today," he says, summoning a swirling, barely-contained dark purple windstorm. It carries itself higher into the air and then begins descending upon Michael, who is held in place by Seto's magic.

" _Seto!"_ Brice shouts.

Seto pauses, and his hand wavers. "Dark..?" he whispers, and, yeah, it's definitely dark. The tiny tornado is nothing but black and dirty purple, mashed together violently into something terrifying and final. Seto glances up at Brice, taking in his devastated expression, and lowers his hand.

"S-See?" I ask nervously, turning to focus back on Payten. "No one's dead."

Before Payten can so much as call me out, a loud, ear-ringing roar, like the rush of wind past your ears, brushes around us. Seto cries out as his own Dark magic _turns_ on him, changing its course and coming down on him after being ignored for so long.

The magic doesn't kill him. But it hurts him, and it holds him down, flickering wildly around his feet as he falls to his knees. Danielle screams, throwing her hands up to sign something and then squeaking in horror when her light magic can't get past the swirl of darkness surrounding Seto.

"What was that?" Michael asks quietly, his smile growing eerily wide as he closes the distance between Seto and himself. "'Not today'?"

Our sorcerer groans in pain, holding up a hand and then yelping helplessly when only a few leftover sparks of magic burst forth from it.

"Cover me while I get over to him," Payten whispers, hardly moving at all, barely even moving their lips.

"Don't you freaking dare," I hiss, grabbing their arm again.

They scoff. "Yeah," they say, glaring at me. "Love _is_ scary."

"What does _that_ mean!?" I whisper-shout.

"That night in the burg," Payten begins in monotone, and I swear to Notch I'm about to have a heart attack. Please don't say what I think you're going to say, please don't say what I- "You said you loved me," they finish, pulling away from me again and crossing their arms. "And yet… here we are. Whether that night was platonic or not, I thought it at least meant _something._ And now you won't even let me save the closest thing to a father I've ever had?" I wrap my arms around myself, rocking back and forth slightly on the balls of my feet. Payten scoffs. "Are you gonna cover me, or not?"

"Not. Today," Michael repeats, humming a little as he circles Seto, so close, too close. "Ha. Silly addict. Funny how wrong you were, huh?"

Seto grits his teeth and looks down, wrapping his arms around himself in desperation.

"I don't want Seto to die, I don't- I don't want _anyone_ to die!" I whimper, clasping my hands together pleadingly and trying to side-step the whole 'I love you' thing. "M-Maybe just, like, a tiny spell? To knock Michael back?"

"You don't even _cast!"_ Payten huffs, throwing up their hands. "What am I gonna do, knock him down so he can get right back up? I'm _not_ as strong as them, Jennifer! This is a one-shot sort of thing, here!"

"That's not even what Jenny stands for," I choke out. Just the thought of my name makes me both sick to my stomach and eternally grateful for Danielle. I don't know what I'd do without her. "Remember your anxiety attack back at the prison? You can't possibly want anyone else to go through that, right? And if Brice's brother dies-"

" _Seto_ is the only reason anxiety attacks like that one aren't regular occurrences for me anymore!" Payten yells. "So you can _shut the Nether up_ about anxiety!"

We've gotten the attention of the others, and suddenly the three fighting boys are staring over at us. Both groups wait for the other to finish their battle first.

"No mercy." Michael eventually shrugs, raising his hand as it flickers with magic.

"Michael, _no!"_ Brice yells, running forward and pushing his brother back, a few feet away from Seto. "Stop, _please,_ you can't- He's my _fiancé,_ you can't do this!"

"Get out of the way," Michael sneers, shoving Brice aside. Brice's expression hardens.

" _No,"_ Brice insists. "I _will not_ let you do this."

"Oh, yeah? And how do you plan to stop me?"

"With magic," Brice huffs, splaying out his hands, and his dirty yellow magic pushes Michael even further back.

It's pretty obvious that Michael doesn't want to flat-out _fight_ his brother. He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes, willing the boy to back down instead.

"Well?" Brice asks, clearly not about to back down.

Michael glances between Brice and Seto, who is still on his knees, held down now by a mixture of Michael's magic and his own. Finally, Michael speaks. "It's either me or him."

Brice doesn't seem to get it. Payten and I hold our breaths.

"It's either me or him," Michael clarifies, lifting his hand again. "Forget about him, or I'll _leave._ You'll lose the one small bit of family you've got left. So… Choose. Who do you love more? Me, or him?"

I grasp Danielle's hand with my own. "Be careful," I mouth to Payten, and they sigh with silent relief before stalking slowly closer to Michael.

Brice is silent for a moment. And then… "Are you kidding me?" he asks quietly. "You're my _brother._ Mom and Dad were gone, but you _weren't._ You've been by my side for most of my life.

"Seto? He was a stranger who got me out of a Dark Mage prison just to spite the leaders of the base I was being held in. He was a world-renowned _villain,_ and, at first, he fricking _hated_ me."

Payten moves faster.

"And you're asking me to choose between you two." Brice laughs and shakes his head, looking down. Michael smirks, holds up his hand with the magic brewing above it. And then Brice carries on. "You're asking me to choose between the _brother_ who should have _loved_ me, and the Dark magic-casting boy who loved me more when we were still _strangers_ than anyone else _ever_ has."

Payten pauses, and Michael's eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

"You had, what? _Twenty years?_ Twenty years to figure out how to be nice to your little brother. And instead you spent that time figuring out the best ways to manipulate him. You were all I _had,_ Michael! You were all I had, and I loved you and I looked up to you and you pushed me down and let the rest of the Mages order me around like a servant. I met Seto, and we taught each other to _love_ ourselves.

"I don't think I can stress that enough," Brice huffs, his laughter dark with disappointment as he steps closer. Michael looks completely speechless, his hand hovering weakly above Seto as Seto looks on with speechlessness and wide eyes to match Michael's own. "You were my brother. The only family I had left. He was a stranger - he was the infamous _Dark Sorcerer,_ and he cared more than you did!"

"I'm-" Michael blows air out slowly through his mouth and then looks up at Brice again. "I'm your brother. You're right about that. But what could _possibly_ make you believe I didn't care for you?"

"Oh, come off it," Brice says, and Seto chokes out a laugh at the unusual words. "Don't tell me you ever gave a single crap about me."

"Look, you can't ask me to change my _personality,"_ Michael argues, rolling his eyes as though Brice is the one in the wrong here. "Maybe you just don't understand the way I show my love." He looks patronizingly down at Brice as though Brice were still a little kid, just wanting attention. "I love you, Brice, but I won't change for you."

Brice curls his hand into a fist.

"You were manipulative and narcissistic and power-hungry. And you _still are._ But Seto?" Brice closes his eyes for a moment, and, when they open again, they're harboring a sparkle of fondness. He steps closer still. "Seto was sassy and angry and very secretly kind. And he still is, but it's _different!_ He's still sassy," Brice laughs, and Seto smiles a little, "but he's no longer angry at himself or the world - he's only angry at people like _you._ And his kindness is no longer a secret to be kept; now it's a gift that he hands out to each and every one of his friends." Brice bites his lip, smiling as he looks down at his feet. "He's still Seto. But he's _grown_ as a person."

Brice looks up at Michael, and his smile drops. "You understand, right? When you came here, I thought- I thought that's what had happened. I thought you'd _grown._ I never wanted you to be a different person. I just wanted you to be a… a _better_ person." He sighs. "I guess maybe that doesn't really make a ton of sense. But I… really don't care." He looks exhausted - and, Notch, he must be. "Please just let Seto go."

Michael splutters. "I- He's poisoned your mind!" he argues, letting his magic flare up again. Seto squeezes his eyes shut tightly in anticipation.

"Just let him go," Brice repeats, his voice commanding and low. His hand is in the air, and there's a wispy yellow dagger floating just a little too close to Michael's neck.

"You wouldn't," Michael says slowly, squinting slightly as he tries to evaluate his brother's mental state.

"If you hurt him," Brice breathes, "I will kill you. If you _kill_ him, I will make you wish you'd never existed. And when I finally put you out of your misery, I _will not_ mourn your death."

"… Where will I go? Where will I go if I don't kill him?" Michael asks. He's breathing a little too heavily, and his hand is sinking with each terrible breath.

Brice shrugs carelessly. "Where will you go if you _do?_ "

Michael laughs sadly. "When did you get so… so… so _confident?"_

Brice smiles and shrugs again and looks down at Seto. "I met someone who thought I deserved to be happy."

After a few very tense moments, Michael sighs. Then he snarls out, "An addict can't make anyone happy," and shoves his hand further into the air.

It seems like everything's moving in slow motion; Payten signs a series of spells, but Michael just flicks his wrist a little and sends them flying backwards. Danielle signs "kill" over and over like it's her only hope, but Michael gives a sway of his hand and then she's down on the ground, hands bound in front of her with murky orange magic. Brice winces, squeezes his eyes shut, and waves his hand to the right, but his dirty yellow dagger clatters to the ground as Michael sends Brice to his knees and then lunges forward to finish Seto off.

There's a fizzy kind of feeling in my stomach, in my chest, in my throat, on my tongue. My fingers tingle with something gentle yet pressing, small and yet powerful. My eyes burn and begin to water.

Before I can even _try_ to understand what's happening, my eyes are hyper-focusing in on Michael's raised hand, seemingly frozen in time as my mind works at super speed. Suddenly I've got my own hands in the air, and I'm pressing them forward as though to shock someone alive, as though that would do _anything,_ and I'm calling out at the top of my lungs, _"Leave him alone!"_

Michael slams back into a humongous tree at the edge of the forest, and then a beautiful sort of _pastel_ purple mist flies lazily around Seto, peacefully settling down on his Dark magic before slowly disintegrating it, blowing the dust-like remains away with the wind.

It's silent for a long, long time.

"Oh thank Jeb," Brice finally breathes, scrambling to get to Seto and then dropping down next to him. Brice wraps his arms around his boyfriend - no, his _fiance -_ and Seto relaxes into his hold, burying his face in Brice's shoulder.

Danielle is next to join the hug, practically jumping on top of Seto, and Payten and I exchange an awe-filled glance of truce and join afterward, gently adding ourselves to the gathering. "Thanks," Seto laughs weakly, and we just hug him harder, not currently willing to deal with whatever the Nether just happened.

"I'm _family,"_ Michael mumbles, rubbing his head with his hand as he struggles to sit up.

" _They're_ family," Brice corrects him.

"I love you," Seto says desperately, like he's been waiting his whole life to say it. Payten and I grudgingly pull Danielle off of him so he and Brice can have a little space.

"Notch, Seto, I love you, too!" Brice laughs, hugging him more tightly. A few seconds pass, and Brice finally tries to pull away, but Seto clings to him, refusing to leave more than a few inches between them. Brice doesn't seem to mind; smiling, he helps Seto to his feet.

"Home?" I ask quietly.

"Home," Payten says, and they smile with their eyes as they intertwine their fingers with my own.


	13. Twelve: Your Name Is a Language

_Wowza. Uh. Geez. Yikes. Dang. Diggity. Holy crap, man. This week. This month? This year has been so hectic._

 _I'm sorry for my current update schedule. I'd say I plan to do better, and I do, but I doubt I'll accomplish that, to be honest. Still, I will try._

 _There were so many questions that I accidentally wrote ten thousand extra words, so I guess now there's kind of a third book in the making. Meh, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it._

 _For now, please appreciate Jenny dang it. I love her, she's precious. In answer to the one person who was like "y givejen powers" but in more clever wording, I totally agree tbh and I was kind of angry with myself for making that happen but I needed this prophecy thing to be brought up for Seto's sake. In the published version, Jenny's "magic" may be removed entirely; for now, you all may have to momentarily settle for her emotional win in the next chapter (which is the last)._

 _En-juh-hoy, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Readers. I hope your life is nice._

 **Scapegoat**

 **Chapter Twelve: Your Name Sounds Like a Foreign and Made-Up Language**

"So I guess we'll check Michael's house first?" I ask, following Seto and Brice into the forest.

"You'll regret this!" Michael yells after us.

"I really don't think so," Brice shouts back. He waves his hand, and murky yellow magic wafts back towards Michael. There's a _pop_ sound, and Michael is quiet.

Seto raises an eyebrow.

"Um. N-National Dark Magic Rehab Institution?" Brice says.

"For him, or you?" Seto snorts, smiling fondly at him.

"Pssssh," Brice replies, shoving him slightly. "You're one to talk."

"I certainly am," Seto chuckles, and then he's pulling Brice closer to him, pressing against the man's side. "We can work on it together?"

"We can," Brice confirms, looking down at Seto with starry eyes.

"I just realized that you two are both _really_ short," Payten snorts, and Seto huffs in offense, glowing slightly.

"I am not _short,"_ Seto hisses.

"I am _not_ short!" Brice protests at the same time.

"I mean." I giggle a little as I continue. _"Guys._ You're… You're kinda short. Like, Brice is a little taller at least? But Seto is _really_ short."

"I liked it better when you were all pre-pubescent midgets," Seto growls at us.

"How dare we grow up," Payten sarcastically agrees.

"Um, but- I get that Seto is short and it's really funny, but-" Danielle tugs at her hair as she speaks. Oh, crap, I think she got that from me. My bad. "Are we all gonna pretend that stuff back there… didn't happen?"

"Uh…" I wince. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Seto. And Payten. And everyone, actually. Sorry."

"No need," Seto says, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. "I understand your reasoning, dear."

"Yeah. Me, too. And I…" Payten squeezes my hand more tightly. "I'm sorry, too," they continue. "It was a tense situation and I shouldn't have yelled at you, Jen, I- I really didn't mean to- I shouldn't have brought up, you know."

"I know," I laugh, leaning up against them. "It's okay."

"Good," they say, laughing with me in relief. "Yeah, uh- good, cool. Fantastic."

"Has it ever occurred to you two," Seto begins, "that your first kiss has really been a long time coming?"

Payten glows their usual blushy silver, and I look down at our joined hands to see their silver mixing with the same pastel purple from earlier.

"No, see, _that! That's_ what I was talking about!" Danielle huffs, jumping back and pointing at me. "Do you guys seriously not see this!?"

"Oh," Brice says.

"I see," Seto continues.

"Jen, do you know what this _means!?"_ Danielle shrieks, and my eyes go wide with shock.

"Um… what?"

"Your- Your _head,_ you muppet!" Danielle screams, pulling harder at her hair. "Oh my Jeb, how have you not realized!?"

"Oh my Jeb," I breathe. My eyes drift down to meet hers. "You think..?"

"Well, _obviously!_ See, this was right all along! You just had to _wait."_

"I'm lost," Brice admits, shrugging slightly.

"No, no, okay, just wait," Danielle says frantically, putting her hands up as a sign for them to stop. "Jenny, Jenny, sit down!"

I sigh and crouch down on the earthy forest floor. "Go for it," I say, and Danielle squeals and takes the scrunchie out of my hair.

Carefully, she lifts my hair, revealing the skin on the back of my head, nearing my neck.

"I'll admit," Seto says, "I did not see this coming."

I can't see the letters, seeing as they're on the back of my head, but I've stared at them in the mirror enough to know exactly what they say.

 _Jenneliese._

"Jennifer. That's not even what it stands for," Payten remembers, their eyes widening in surprise.

"I was ashamed, I mean, obviously, so… I switched to Jenny. It helped me forget. Kind of," I explain weakly.

"Mages who are destined to be great are born with their name etched onto their head," Brice realizes. "You've got one, too, right, Seto?"

"I do," Seto confirms.

"Do you think you guys match?" Brice asks excitedly, peeping at the back of Seto's head as Seto dodges around him.

"I haven't a clue," Seto chuckles, still dodging Brice's efforts.

"Shut up and talk about this!" Danielle screeches. "You've got _magic,_ Jenny! Magic!"

"I- Yeah, I think I noticed," I giggle nervously. "Wow. Uh. Ha. Wow."

"Do you think Seto's magic might have left some of itself in you when you scapegoated for him?" Payten asks, crouching down in front of me with awe-filled eyes.

"I-I guess," I mutter. "Um, my magic is purple like his."

"So you've got some of his magic?"

"Certainly not," Seto huffs, holding a struggling Brice at arm's length. "My magic may have ignited something in you; it may have even planted a seed that grew you your own magic. Regardless, the magic you hold is no one's but your own. It is uniquely ' _Jenny.'"_

"Jenneliese," I say, frowning a little.

"No," Payten assures me, putting their hand on mine, "just Jenny."

Oh Jeb, I'm tearing up.

Suddenly everyone's arms are around me, strangling my insecurities and feeding my confidence. "Thanks, guys," I whisper.

"You mean a lot to all of us, Jenny - you meant a lot to us _far_ before you showed off your new magic," Seto says, carefully putting my hair back up into its usual ponytail.

"Hold the heck up," Brice whispers, and Seto jumps away from me suddenly.

"Uh," says Seto.

"You definitely matched, but, like- okay, I only got a glimpse, but I swear to Jeb the name on the back of your head had a 'y' in it, Seto!"

Seto smiles, clasping his hands together mischievously. "I have always found it fun to _rebel."_

"You- Your weird name isn't even part of some crazy prophecy like you said?" Brice asks, his jaw dropping, and I have to hold back my laughter.

"Oh, my real name certainly is," Seto says, shrugging as he turns and begins to walk further into the forest. "I just prefer to go by ' _Seto!'"_

"Oh my Jeb," Brice says, seeming as though his world has been turned upside down. "Hold on- Seto! Er, whoever you are! What's your real name!?"

"I suppose you'll never know!" Seto laughs from somewhere deep in the forest, and Brice nearly shrieks in frustration.

"How _curious,"_ Danielle says in a magnified, posh version of her subtle British accent, and then she walks calmly after Seto.

"Indeed," I agree, standing up and grabbing Payten's hand to follow after my sister.

" _Indubitably,"_ Payten nods.

"Everything I know is a lie," Brice whispers, and if he arrives at Our City a few minutes later than the rest of us, well, it's definitely Seto's fault.

* * *

"He… he wouldn't keep them in his _house,_ would he?"

"It's not like any of us ever went in there," Payten snorts.

"Michael's lucky I didn't get a chance to whoop his butt," Danielle huffs, furrowing her eyebrows in a very, _very_ amusing angry-face as she stomps up to the door. "Locked!" she screeches angrily.

" _Open Sesame,"_ Seto chants jokingly, waving a hand behind his back, and the door swings open.

"Not knowing my fiance's name is such a _cliche_ thing," Brice whines, completely off-topic.

Seto blushes while Danielle rolls her eyes and runs inside. "Ah… Fiance?"

"Well, yeah! You didn't actually believe Michael, right?" Brice snuggles up close to Seto and pulls Seto's arm around himself, and Seto blushes even more. "Of course I want to marry you."

"What a day," Seto breathes, and Payten drags me inside to give the lovebirds a little privacy.

"Basement is the obvious choice," Danielle is muttering, snooping around the house. "But there aren't any stairs! So there must be a secret room-"

Payten coughs and silently casts a true sight spell on Danielle, who gasps in surprise when she suddenly sees the trap door hidden under the couch. "Yes!" she screams. "I'm a super detective!" She calls Payten and I over to help her move the couch, and Payten exchanges an amused glance with me before obeying my little sister's commands. Luckily, the couch isn't actually all that heavy, and it doesn't take long for us three to move it. The trap door itself is quite heavy, but we manage.

"Quiet," Danielle says, holding a finger in front of her mouth despite the fact that we really don't expect to find anyone bad down there. Part of the atmosphere, I guess. Payten nods solemnly, playing along with the tiny detective, and I grin and pretend to zip my lips.

"He's back!" someone whispers, and I wince. These poor children. But then the voice picks up again, loud enough for us to distinguish its owner. "Listen here, you… turd! You might have beaten me last time, but I've been honing my gay!"

"Gay is proven to make beans five times stronger."

"Yeah! Why do you think Seto and Brice are so strong!?"

"Because they're gay beans."

"No, Lizza, I _know,_ I was asking _Michael-"_

Danielle has been silently screaming ever since she recognized Louis' voice, and, when she finally manages to drop down off the long ladder into the basement, she immediately screeches his name and sprints toward him. "Louis! Bloody tea crumpets!" she laugh-cries. His hands are tied behind him around a rusty pole (which makes me wonder exactly how long Michael had been planning this whole endeavor), and Lizza and the other three children are next to him in what looks like an over-sized dog kennel. "Hold on, I'll get you out of here!"

"Dani!? How'd you find us?" Louis asks, bouncing excitedly and sending his curly red hairs flopping all over his face.

"It's a really long story," she says seriously, quickly untying the rope around his hands.

"The key is on the table by the wall," Lizza says matter-of-factly. "Where are the gay beans?"

"Upstairs," Payten replies, picking up the key and crouching down to fiddle with the cage door. "How much did he hurt you?"

"It was worst for them," Louis says, fiddling his thumbs anxiously as he peers in at the four children. "Lizza and I have magic, so I guess that means Michael couldn't crash into us, right? But Timmy and Terry and Tina don't have any magic at all, so-"

"So he didn't even hold back," I mutter angrily, crouching down as well to grab the kids' hands and tug them out of the kennel thing. "Hey, honey, can you look at me?" I ask gently, putting my hands on the little girl's - Tina's - shoulders.

For a while, she's quiet.

"I'm really tired," she finally says, and I sigh in relief. Who knows what the brain-dead thing would do to a regular human. It'll probably just be, like… actual-dead.

"I know, honey, but we're gonna get you feeling better, okay?" I bite my lip and turn to Payten. "Do you have the scapegoat thingy?"

"I do," Payten says after pocketing the key. "Here."

I take the crystal from Payten's hands as gently as possible, and then I hold it out to Tina and smile warmly. "Could you please hold this, sweetie?"

Tina furrows her eyebrows but carefully takes the crystal into her tiny hands anyways, and then she gasps as the crystal lights up orange for a couple of seconds.

"Oh, it feels better," she says, almost giggling. "Timmy, come try!"

Timmy looks skeptical, but he touches a wary finger to the crystal anyways, and his eyes light up with newfound energy. "Oh!" Terry is quick to snatch the crystal up after that, and then everyone is looking like… _children_ again.

I glance up from the kids to see Danielle hugging Louis tightly. "It was insane, Lou! Michael was like _'You step away from my brother, you butt,'_ and Seto was like _'Haha, you WISH!'_ and then Brice was like _'Everybody just calm down!'_ and Jenny was like _'Whelp, I guess now is a good time to show off my secret magical powers!'"_

"Woah!" Louis replies, reacting appropriately after each silly imitation. "So what happened to Michael!?"

"He's in rehab learning to deal with his crap!" Danielle laughs. "Oh, and Seto and Brice are basically married!"

"Not quite," Seto laughs as he and Brice pop into existence beside us. "But we're on our way."

"His name isn't even Seto," Brice whimpers.

"Well then what is it!?" Louis asks, seeming slightly overwhelmed.

"I don't _know,"_ Brice whines, throwing his head back. "He won't _tell_ me! He won't let me _look!_ It's ridiculous! How can I marry you if I don't even know your name!?" he asks, turning back to Seto, and Seto's brain seems to short circuit for half a second before his usual cocky expression fades onto his face.

"Trust exercises?" he asks, raising an eyebrow, but no one misses the way he ruffles the hair on the back of his head, not-so-subtly hiding from us the only evidence of his real name.

"… A problem for another day," Payten sighs, waving it off. "We should go tell the rest of Our City that it's safe to continue normal life. And I'm sure there will be some _very_ happy parents waiting for us…"

Tina squeals in delight as Payten lifts her up into the air and spins her around, and Seto smiles, relaxing a little as he fondly looks on.

"I think I saw an 'm'?" Brice says hesitantly from behind Seto, and Seto jumps away and puts a shield around himself almost instinctively. Our beloved sorcerer looks almost… scared. No, definitely scared. His eyebrows are up into his hairline, not in his usual arrogant way, but in a terrified and vulnerable way that makes me feel out of place. Meanwhile, one hand is on the back of his head, covering his birth name, and his other arm is held protectively across his chest, covering as much of himself as he can.

"Seto?" Brice asks gently, afraid to scare him away.

"No 'm,'" Seto says, but his voice cracks, and he swallows hard and then clears his throat and swallows again. "You did not see the letter 'm,' nor did you see _anything else,"_ he tries again, more firmly this time.

"Hey," Brice says quietly, stepping forward and pressing a hand up against the magical purple shield surrounding his fiance. "Seto, come on, look at me. It's okay!"

Seto's eyes focus in on him slowly but surely, and he suddenly looks painfully aware of all the people in the room. "Ah. My apologies!" he nearly shouts, bowing slightly as he lets his shield down. "It has been… quite a long day."

Brice weaves his way into Seto's personal space, and, before Seto can try to cover the back of his head again, Brice just grabs the poor sorcerer's hands and snuggles up next to him. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable," Brice whispers, and Seto breathes out carefully.

"It isn't a problem," Seto says rather stiffly, and Brice sighs and hugs him more tightly.

Payten coughs, drawing the attention towards themself. "Uh, come on, kids! Time to go see your parents!"

The children easily forget Seto's strange actions as Payten nudges them towards the ladder, and Danielle squints at Seto for a while but eventually huffs and heads after Payten and the other kids.

"We'll talk later," I hear Brice whisper as I head toward the ladder myself.

Well.

A problem for another day.

* * *

The parents of the missing children are definitely more than happy to have their kids back.

Lizza's mother just flat-out _screams,_ and Tina and Timmy and Terry's parents straight-up _faint._ Louis' parents at least keep themselves together a bit better, but they're still all over him the moment he enters the room.

"Oh, Louis, oh, Jeb," one of his fathers sobs as he drops to his knees next to his little boy. "Louis, we- we were starting to think you would never-"

"It doesn't matter now," the second breathes out in relief, wrapping his arms around his son. "You're home now, Louis. We love you."

Louis hugs them back without any sort of hesitation, and Jason and Ty walk up to us looking impressed. "That was fast," Ty says, glancing at us all. "Since you left to find Seto, I mean."

"Yeah, uh- wow!" Jason laughs. "How'd you find everyone that fast?"

"Magic," Seto says, his eyes crinkling as he grins.

"Welcome back, Seto," Ty says quietly.

"Glad to be here," Seto replies.

Surprisingly enough, Brice _doesn't_ ask Ty if he knew 'Seto' wasn't Seto's real name. "Friendship!" Brice giggles instead, still clinging to Seto's arm, and Seto smiles warmly up at him.

"Get things sorted out?" Ty asks, crossing his arms and smirking at the lovebirds. "Seems to me like there's something you aren't telling us."

I almost expect Seto to freak out again at the mention of a secret, but the thought doesn't even seem to cross his mind; he looks completely at ease with Ty and Jason's presence. "Married," Seto says calmly, "is a thing that we will soon be."

"Holy Jeb!" Jason laughs, the skin around his eyes crinkling happily. "I can't believe it, oh my Jeb, you guys were taking _forever-"_

"You actually did it," Ty breathes, looking proudly down at Seto. "I'll admit, I was expecting you to either chicken out or do it at the absolute worst time ever on total impulse."

"What?" Seto laughs quietly as he glows just the slightest bit. "What do you mean?"

Ty snorts. "I figured I'd be watching you whip out a ring after rage-quitting some videogame with the kids."

Seto's blush increases. "I would never."

"You- You didn't."

"Okay, so _perhaps_ I _may_ have considered it. Once or twice."

"Seto, oh my Notch," Ty says, and Jason absolutely _loses_ it.

"You were _not_ about to propose to him after losing to me in Call of Duty, Seto, oh my-" Payten nearly shouts, throwing their hands out and pacing around the room.

"You, like, fell to your knees in shame," Brice whispers, voice slowly growing louder as his laughter becomes too much. "But it wasn't shame, was it? You were totally going to propose!"

"I was _not!"_ Seto insists loudly, waving his hands back and forth defensively as he shoves Brice away. His voice shrinks. "I decided against it."

"Oh my Jeb, I love you," Brice giggles, falling back against Seto, and Seto just looks so, so happy.

"Lizza's mother sews," Ty says, making eye contact with Seto. "She can make you a tux."

Seto looks even happier - assuming that's even possible.

"I'll have it done by tomorrow, get Brice to send me your measurements!" Lizza's mother shouts from across the room where she holds her daughter.

"Ah, it probably isn't necessary to rush so much-" Seto begins.

"Let's be real, I've had the color scheme planned for _years,"_ Brice admits, nuzzling closer still to his soon-to-be-husband.

"So we're doing this tomorrow?" I ask, biting on the inside of my lip as we wall look to Seto for confirmation.

He splutters in surprise. "I- Tomorrow? Normally, these things take months of planning, you know-"

"Don't you dare go pulling that 'normal' bullcrap on us," Payten huffs, rolling their eyes. "Me, Jenny, and Dani? We can have you guys' _dream_ wedding set up in _one night."_

"Oh, dear," Seto says, but he can't quite manage to hide his smile.

"Guest list," Jason says, snapping his fingers suddenly. "What about a guest list? Gotta have time to let it send."

"Outside Our City?" Danielle asks as she cocks her head in surprise.

"Well," says Seto, frowning slightly. "I- In light of recent events, I really don't know if…"

"We'll sit in their seats," Ty says, smiling reassuringly.

"Sit in whose seats?" Brice asks. "I definitely don't have available parents or anything, and Michael got on my nerves a few minutes ago. Didn't really have many friends with the Light Mages, so…? Seto?"

Seto squints in the decision-making way. "You've… never met my parents. Nor my aunt," he finally says, shrugging apologetically as he looks back to Brice.

"You're right," Brice says slowly, carefully. "I didn't think they were worth bringing up?"

"No, no, it's certainly fine, you're mostly right-"

"All the way right," Jason corrects him, pouting a bit, and Ty whacks him on the back of the head.

"You're some amount of right," Seto chuckles. "They certainly weren't- _aren't_ the best people."

"Say it again, for the people in the back!" Jason shouts. Several families turn to look at us. Ty sighs and waves them off.

"Anyways," Seto says, again failing to hide a smile, "I think I really ought to… visit them. Eventually. And I- I'd like you to be there, Brice. If it's not too much trouble."

"Oh man, I'm psyched!" Brice laughs, bouncing around, and Seto snorts.

"Don't be," grumbles Jason, sneaking a fearful glance at Ty as he does so. Ty just glares at him.

"I wanna come," Danielle pouts, appearing out of nowhere with Louis not too far behind. "I wanna meet Seto's parents!"

"I could come, too," Ty offers.

Jason flashes a goofy smile and flexes for approximately half a second. "I'll be your backup!"

Seto's magic sparks up playfully around his feet. "Well, _perhaps_ we could afford to have some company," he says, glancing around at us all. "Assuming said company would _behave."_

"How about, instead of _behaving,_ we _behead_ people instead!"

"Jason," Ty groans. "Please, just- just stop talking."

Jason mocks him for a moment and then sighs and casts a spell and begins sitting with his legs crossed in midair. "Fine. Loser."

"He's very passionate about this subject," Ty sighs. "Sorry."

"Now I _really_ want to meet your parents," I say quietly. "And I can practically feel Danielle bursting with excitement."

"This is not quite what I had planned," Seto says. "But, ah- Well, I'm sure it will be fine. I'm in control now, and that should certainly turn things around regardless of my company. It should be a safe enough endeavor."

"Does that mean we can come!?" Danielle asks, looking up at Seto with sparkling puppy eyes. Seto smiles and nods. "Yes! Yay! When!"

"I suppose we could leave in a few days' time, or- or today, really, if you're all so desperate. Really, we can leave whenever we-" His breath hitches, and his eyes flick over to Payten's. "Oh, no. Payten, I'm so sorry, I- I was going to _leave_ without ever doing your- Oh, my." He bites his lip angrily and runs a glowing hand through his hair. "I am so sorry, Payten."

"Seto," Payten says gently, stepping up to hug him gently. "It's okay. I've been doing okay, right? And you had a _lot_ on your mind." They smile reassuringly. "You're like a dad to me, Seto. Your health should come first."

"Hmph."

"Is it almost time?" I ask, jaw dropping slightly.

"Yes," Seto says, still looking quite angry with himself. "It was actually scheduled for about a week ago, but then all of this happened…"

"How long does it take? Are you feeling well enough to do it? Can we do it now? Should Danielle and I clear out your basement?" I ask excitedly. Danielle looks elated.

"Enough time has elapsed with the use of the binders, and Payten has certainly adjusted to the correct state of mind…" Seto closes his eyes for a moment. "I will down a few potions, just to be sure. We don't want this to go badly."

"We should wait," Brice blurts, and, as disappointed as Payten looks, they seem to agree. "Seto _has_ to be at full strength for this."

Payten sighs. "He's right. It's… not worth the risk."

Seto shoots them an apologetic glance, and they wave it off as casually as they can. "I- We can prepare, then. We'll take our time getting things together for the trip. Afterward, I should be completely ready for the procedure. Everything _will_ go smoothly."

"I know it will," Payten says confidently. "I have full faith in you."

"What about me?" Danielle asks, pouting up at Seto again.

"Hmm. Well, remind me- How old are you?" he asks, looking down at her with an amused expression.

"Twelve," Danielle grumbles.

"And _what_ did I say was the safest minimum age to have the procedure done?"

"Sixteen," she grumbles.

"It won't be long," Seto promises, crouching down in front of her. "The time will fly. I know it's hard, but we have to put your health above all else."

"I know," she sighs.

"But! We've always got the estrogen," Seto reminds her. He smiles. " _Magical_ estrogen. The very moment your voice begins to deepen."

"I know," she says, a little more optimistically this time. She reaches forward and hugs him so tightly that he almost falls backwards. "Thank you."

"You two are going to make me cry," Seto huffs, rolling his eyes but hugging back anyways. He lovingly pushes her away and then stands up. "Shall we prepare for the family trip, then?"

"We shall," Brice says in a goofy imitation of Seto's accent. "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

"I suppose you're not exactly one for segues, are you?" Seto laughs. "Yes, you have. However, I love you more."

Danielle pretends to gag before Brice can competitively reply, and Ty rolls his eyes and pushes us back towards the stairs. "We're tired of being down here," he huffs. "And anyways, it's time to prepare for a wedding."

* * *

It is in the dead of night when, suddenly, a knock on my window wakes me from the slumber that was supposed to be uninterrupted after such a long journey.

Seto? Oh, definitely not, he was out like a light the moment Brice let him sleep in his lap. Brice? Obviously preoccupied with Seto. I have a feeling those two will be intertwined all night.

Danielle? Ha, I hope not! It's, like, three a.m., and she's _supposed_ to be catching up on her sleep in her bedroom, which is right across from mine.

The only other person in this city who I _wouldn't_ kill for waking me up in the middle of the night is Payten. So… I guess I'll hope.

"Oi, has anyone ever told you you sleep like a rock?" Payten quietly laughs when I tug open my window. "I have knocked _at least_ four times."

"I wasn't asleep, I was worrying about whether or not there was a stalker outside my bedroom window," I huff in irritation, and Payten smiles sheepishly but climbs into my bedroom anyway.

"Well, props for being on your guard, but I didn't expect to be hovering _that_ long, babe."

"Props for showing off, but it's literally three in the morning."

"Oh, you know you're glad to see me," they say, winking reflexively at me as they close my window and drag me over to my bed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Loser."

"Hey! We saved a bunch of children today, you should be more happy!"

"Payten? It is _three in the morning._ In case you didn't hear me the first time."

They give me that shy smile again, and I sigh and criss cross my legs on the messy sheets of my bed. "Fine," I groan, rubbing my eyes. "What's up?"

"The ceiling," Payten replies with a well-timed set of finger guns, and I groan and try to push them off the bed and back toward the window. "No, no, wait, really!" they laugh, and I narrow my eyes at them. "Really," they insist, eyes turning serious, and I sigh.

"You may proceed," I say, crossing my arms.

"Thanks, babe. So-" They wrinkle their nose, squeezing their eyes shut. "Well, part of it is about the wedding."

"Okay..?"

Payten nods, seemingly brushing aside whatever just freaked them out. "I'm thinking _fireworks."_

"… Please be more specific."

They huff, throwing their head back in exasperation before tugging me down to sit with them again. "At the wedding, when Brice and Seto kiss! You and I can make fireworks."

I tilt my head. "Literally?"

"Yes, literally," they huff, rolling their eyes. "It'll be _fantastic -_ magical fireworks."

"Oh," I say. "Yeah, that- that sounds fun."

Payten narrows their eyes. "No, it doesn't. What's wrong?" they ask, and I clamp my mouth shut and try to wave it off. "You can tell me, babe."

"No, I can't," I whisper, and it comes out sounding strangled and raw.

"Oh, Jenny, babe," Payten says, matching my tone, and I can't help but lean into their side. "You're wrong, Jen. I'm always here for you."

"Yeah, now that I have magic," I mutter, and my heart stops when Payten stiffens.

Dear Jeb, tell me I did not just say that out loud.

"Pardon?" Payten asks, arms tight and unmoving around me, and I let out a shuddering breath.

"I- Nothing, I'm just really tired," I say, trying to laugh, but a sob comes out instead. "Crap. I- I'm sorry, I'm so- It's so late, I'm sorry, Pay, I-"

"I loved you _long_ before you had any semblance of magic in you," Payten nearly growls, and I peek up at them through teary eyes. "You are a spectacular human being, and that has _nothing_ to do with your magic." They take a deep breath as they pull me into their chest, pressing their face into the crook of my neck. "Don't think for one second that I thought less of you when _you_ were less like _me_."

Here come the waterworks. I'm full-on bawling now, sobs wracking my body as I curl into Payten, taking whole fists of the fabric of their shirt to pull them closer. "Even _with_ Seto's magic, I'll never be like you all, I'll never be good enough, I- I'll never have any kind of chance with you because you're so far above me and, and, and- you'd never want a weird, magic-less loser like me, never in a million years and I'll always be less useful than any of the rest of you and- I just- Payten, I'm so-"

"Loved," Payten whispers into my ear. "You're so loved, despite what you think."

I sniff and shake my head. "No. I don't deserve-"

"You can shut your mouth about what you deserve. You're beautiful, accepting, and overwhelmingly supportive of your friends and family, and none of us would trade you for the world." Payten shakes their head, running their hands down my arms, and my skin tingles and glows silver beneath their fingers. "You deserve everything I could ever give you, Jen. Especially, you deserve to know that you are _so_ fantastic and _so_ important and I would give my life for yours if even vaguely prompted. It sucks that you don't believe that, but I _promise_ you, someday you'll believe me." They pull an arm's length away and tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "If you can manage to stick around me until that someday comes."

I nod slowly, wiping my eyes with the long sleeves of my pajama shirt and leaning into them again. "I think maybe this is probably a dream," I say quietly, curling up in their lap as they scoot further onto the bed to have their back against the wall.

"I think maybe having you in my arms is definitely a dream come true," Payten says back, even more quietly than me, and I close my eyes and fall asleep.


End file.
